Small Town Southern Living
by DarkGoldenEyedAngel
Summary: Edward just found out that his girlfriend's been cheating on him and when his parents ask him to visit their vacation home in a small town in Alabama, he reluctantly agrees. But what happens when he meets a sweet southern girl while he's there? AH. AU.
1. Ch 1 Brokenheartsville

_**Small Town Southern Living **_

**by CrazedCullenLover (a.k.a. Kitti)**

**A/N: Howdy ya'll! I'm back with another story. I hope you enjoy this one because it should be very authentic. Yes, I'm from the South, so I know what it's like down here. Anyway, I'll let you read now.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Twilight and I never will. I'm not sayin' it again.**

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Full Summary:

Edward Cullen has just found out that his girlfriend of two years has been cheating on him with his best friend while they were out celebrating his twenty-first birthday in downtown Chicago, Edward's hometown. He's heartbroken and when his parents find out, they ask him to visit them in their vacation house… in Alabama. In a tiny suburban town about twenty miles away from Greenville, Alabama to be exact. With a population of 859, this is the smallest town that Edward has ever been to and he's not happy about it. He convinces himself that it will be good for him to get away from the big city… supposedly. But while in Alabama, Edward meets a sweet southern girl by the name of Bella Swan. Will she help him get over his broken heart or will he continue going through life with it left in pieces? All Human. AU. Edward and Bella.

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Soundtrack: _**Brokenheartsville **_**by Joe Nichols**

**Chapter 1: Brokenheartsville**

**(Edward's POV) **

"Come on, Edward. Let's go," my friend James called.

"I'm coming," I called back as I locked my door (I was staying in my parents' house) and ran out to jump into his car. I slid into the back where I was greeted by a pair of lips that I knew very well. I kissed Tanya back and smiled at her when we broke apart.

"Happy birthday, babe," she said as she kissed me again.

"Thanks," I said as I pulled her against my side. "So where're we going?"

"You'll like it. It's this new club that opened a few months back," James told me. I nodded and waited as we made our way through the Chicago traffic.

And yes, it's my birthday and I'm now officially twenty-one and legal. I was spending my birthday with my girlfriend Tanya and my best friend James. My parents were on vacation right now with my sister Alice in some rinky-dink town in Alabama. I didn't hold it against them for being away on my birthday, they deserved a vacation.

We finally pulled up in front of a brightly lit club and I pulled Tanya out of the car and towards the entrance with James following close behind. We made our way into the club and James led over to a private room that he had reserved for the occasion. Some of our other friends were waiting for us there. They all wished me a happy birthday and then we all dispersed into the club.

"Come on, babe. Let's go dance," Tanya said over the music that could be heard through the walls of the room.

"Alright," I said, giving in to her request. She pulled me from my seat and dragged me out into the mass of dancing people.

Tanya and I danced for a little while and then she told me she was thirsty. I told her that I would get her something and then I made my way through the crowd and towards the bar. It took the bartender a while to actually get to me so that he could ask me for my drink, so when I finally got her drink it had been almost twenty minutes.

I went out onto the dance floor where I had left Tanya and I couldn't find her, so I went to look for her in the room that we had rented and she wasn't there either.

I walked out of the room and scanned the dance floor one more time and then I saw a flash of strawberry blond hair in the back corner, so I moved in that direction. I maneuvered my way over to the back corner and when I got there I stopped dead in my tracks.

Pressed up against the wall and kissing my _best _friend was Tanya. She was all over him, just like he was all over her. "Tanya?" My voice just barely came out of my mouth.

She looked up and gasped when she saw me. James turned around and his eyes widened we he saw me. Tanya pulled away from James and came towards me. "Edward, babe. It's not what it looks like. I---" I held up my hand to tell her to stop.

"I don't want to hear it. I know what I saw," I told her. It felt like I was freezing from the inside out. She opened her mouth again to try to say something, but I cut her off again. "Thanks, guys. Best birthday ever."

I turned on my heel and made my way through the masses of people and out the door. I pulled out my cell phone and called a cab.

The cab pulled up in front of me and I climbed in and told the cabdriver my address and off we went.

After I got back to my house and had paid the cabdriver, I walked slowly up the sidewalk to my front door and unlocked it without thinking about anything.

My brain wasn't comprehending what had just happened. Tanya and I had been dating for almost two years now and James had been my best friend for most of my life. What did I do to deserve this?

I went straight to my room and climbed into my bed, not even changing into my pajamas. I laid down in the darkened room and pulled the covers over my head and tried not to think about anything.

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The next morning, I was woken up by the sound of the phone ringing shrilly through the house. I was going to just let it ring, but it never stopped, so I got out of bed and answered it.

"Hello?" I said grumpily into the phone. I wasn't in the mood to be courteous.

"Edward?" I heard my mother's voice say from the other side of the line. "Is everything all right?" she asked, sounding concerned.

I grunted into the phone, avoiding the question. She seemed to notice that I didn't want to talk about it, so she changed the subject. "How did your birthday go, dear? Did you have fun?"

I barked out a harsh laugh. "Oh yeah. Boatloads," I said, my voice sounding monotone.

She was quiet for a moment. "Honey, will you please tell me what happened? I don't like hearing you sound like this."

I sighed. I knew that my mom only wanted to help me, but I wasn't sure that I could talk about it yet, so I told her half the truth. "Tanya and I broke up last night," I told her quietly.

She gasped. "Oh, honey. I'm so sorry. Are you okay? Do you want to talk about it?"

I shook my head and then I realized that she couldn't see me. "Um, not right now. Maybe later," I said, just wanting to calm her down.

"Okay, if you're sure." She still sounded very concerned.

"I'm sure," I said, wanting to drop the subject and she did.

"Well, the reason I called was that I wanted to ask you something and I want you to think it through before you make your decision," she said. As soon as she said that, I knew that this was going to be something that I wasn't going to enjoy.

"And the question was?" I prompted her. I might as well get this over with.

"I was wondering if you might consider coming down here for a little while," she suggested gently. She knew that I've never been out of the city and there's a reason for that. Small towns have never been my thing and I really didn't want to start right now.

"I don't know, Mom," I said slowly into the phone.

"It might be good for you to get out of the city and we all miss you terribly," she said, still trying to convince me. "And Alice really wants you to meet Jasper." Jasper was Alice's boyfriend who she had met a year ago when she went down to our southern vacation house with our parents last year. He lived in the tiny town that the house was near. Alice goes to school down there, so she gets to see him regularly.

I knew she was trying really hard to get me to come down there. "I still don't know. Alabama? I'm not really feeling it, Mom," I said, trying not to sound to harsh about it. I didn't want my mom to have to feel as bad as I did right now.

"Oh, please, honey. Just for a little while. If you don't like it after a few weeks, we'll buy you another ticket back to Chicago." Now I knew that she really wanted me to come down there.

I sighed and gave in. "Fine. I'll come for a few weeks, but no longer than that." I made sure that she understood that last part. I didn't want to have to be down there for too long.

"This'll be good for you, Edward. I know it will be," she said. I knew that she was smiling on the other side of the phone.

"I'm sure it will be an interesting experience," I said, sarcasm dripping from every word.

"Now don't be like that, Edward. You might come to find that you might actually like it down here. It's a lovely place," she scolded gently.

I sighed. "If you insist. Well, if you want me to be there anytime soon, then I've got to pack. I'll see you in a few days, I guess."

"Alright, dear. I love you, honey. Oh, and your plane ticket is in the desk in the study," she told me.

I had to smile a little bit. It's like she already knew that I would be coming for a visit. "Alright, Mom. Love you, too. Bye."

"Bye, dear," she said before she hung up the phone. I hung up the phone and trudged back up to my room. I looked around my room and saw a picture of Tanya and I on my nightstand. I walked over to it and placed it facedown without even looking at it again.

I knew that my parents would be expecting me within the next two days, so I started gathering up clothes and other things that I would need for my trip.

It took me about two hours to pack everything that I would need for the trip. I gathered my suitcase and I grabbed my ticket and made my way to my car and piled everything into the back and then I drove towards the airport.

A few hours later, I was in the air and flying towards the Birmingham International Airport in Alabama. I leaned back in my seat and looked out my window. Maybe my mother was right and this would be good for me. I sighed. I could only hope.

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Here's to the past, they can kiss my glass.  
I hope she's happy with him  
Here's to the girl, who wrecked my world,  
That angel who did me in.  
I think the devil drives a Coupe de Ville.  
I watched 'em drive away over the hill,  
Not against her will, an' I've got time to kill,  
Down in Brokenheartsville.  
Brokenheartsville - Joe Nichols

**A/N: Well, I hope you guys liked that. Review and tell me if I should continue this story. I have a feeling that this might be a pretty good story. Please review and tell me what you think.**

**The song for this chapter is on my website. Just click on the homepage link on my profile and then go to the My Fanfics tab and then scroll down until you find the link for this story's pics.**

**Until later then,**

**Peace out, girl scouts!**

**Kitti :)**


	2. Ch 2 Hicktown

**A/N: Hey guys! Thanks for the reviews! I really appreciate them. They mean a lot to me. I'm gonna stop ramblin' now, so read, people, read!**

**Disclaimer: See Chapter 1.**

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Soundtrack: _**Hicktown**_** by Jason Aldean**

**Chapter 2: Hicktown**

**(Edward's POV) **

As I drove past the sign that said _Welcome to Greenville, the City of Smiles_, I laughed at the irony of it. I definitely wasn't in the mood for smiling. I had been driving through nothing but forest and farmland for almost an hour now and mood was slowly getting worse and worse with every cow I saw.

I had no idea where I was and the directions that I had gotten from one of the locals down here weren't helping much at all. He had told me to drive past the white farmhouse, but there was a slight problem with that.

All of the farmhouses were white.

I sighed and just continued driving, hoping to find some sort of civilization in this deserted place. I drove for another twenty minutes before I actually ran across what looked like a small town. There was a small country diner on one side of the road and there were some other small shops lining both sides of the road. It looked like one of those quaint little towns in the old country movies.

I was about to just drive through the town and look for a different place to stop, but when I saw a small, pixie-like girl coming out of the diner with a tall, blond guy, I pulled over and got out of my car (which happened to look like the most expensive thing in this town).

"Alice?" I called after the girl.

She turned around, looking for the person who had called her name. When she saw me, a smile lit up her face and she came running down the road and flung herself at me. "You're here! I can't believe it!"

I had to smile at her enthusiasm and hugged her back. "Yeah, I'm here," I said, my voice sounding flat.

She wasn't fazed by it though. She continued smiling at me and she grabbed my hand and pulled me away from my car and towards the blond guy that she had been with. "There's someone I want you to meet," she said, smiling at me.

The guy looked like he was just slightly taller than my six feet two inches and he a sun streaked blond hair with blue eyes and his skinned looked tanned. He actually looked like he belonged in this place. He had an unsure look on his face as we approached.

"Edward," Alice said to me. "This is my boyfriend Jasper." She turned to Jasper and said, "And Jasper, this is my big brother Edward."

So this was the famous Jasper. I stuck my hand out for him to shake. "It's nice to finally meet you. You're all Alice talks about."

He shook my hand and smiled a bit and said with a southern accent, "Well, _you're_ all that Alice talks about while she's down here, so I guess we're even."

I laughed a bit. "I guess so," I said before Alice attacked me with questions.

"Have you eaten yet? Have you been to the house yet? Do you need help with anything? Do you---" I cut her off.

"Alice, slow down. And yes, I've eaten. No, I haven't been to the house. I just got here. And yes, I need to know where the house is," I answered all of her questions.

"Okay, we'll take you there. You can follow us," she said, pointing at her car that was parked down the street.

"Alright," I said. "Let's go. I need to get unpacked before dinner." She nodded and grabbed Jasper's hand and pulled him towards the car. I made my way to my car and then I pulled out of the parking spot and followed Alice to go to the house.

We drove for about fifteen minutes through some more green fields and pastures before we pulled up in front of a large white plantation house. I looked around and saw that my parents' cars were sitting in the dirt driveway on the side of the house **(pic on website)**.

I got out of my car and walked around the car to grab my luggage from the trunk. I pulled my duffels from the back and threw them over my shoulders and carried them into the house, Alice skipping front of me.

"Hey, Mom!" she called excitedly down the hall. "Guess who I found?"

"Oh, dear. Please tell you didn't bring Emmett home again," I heard my mother's voice come floating from down the hall. She sounded slightly amused when she said Emmett's name. _Emmett? Who's Emmett?_ I heard my mother's footsteps coming from the next room.

"No, Mom," Alice said, rolling her eyes and smirking in my direction. "I didn't bring home Emmett. You remember what happened last time."

I heard my mother laugh and then she stepped out of the next room and then she smiled brightly as soon as she saw me. "Hey, Mom," I said, smiling back at her shyly.

She walked over to me and pulled me into a hug and then smiled up at me. "It's good to have you here, Edward. And trust me, you might find that you like it down here."

I gave her a suspicious look. "And what is that supposed to mean?" I asked.

"You'll just have to find out for yourself," she said as a sly smile spread across her lips and she winked at Alice, who winked back. What were they up to?

I just shook my head and changed the subject. "I haven't slept in forty-eight hours, everyone on that plane snored very loudly, and I've been driving around lost for almost two hours. I need to lay down for a little while."

"Oh, of course, dear. Why didn't I think of that first? Alice, show Edward to his room," my mother said. Alice nodded and led me up the stairs and into a brightly lit bedroom. I smiled slightly when I saw the very large bed in the center of the room. _Ahh, bed. _

I threw my duffels onto the couch that was placed against one of the walls of the room and fell onto the bed. Alice laughed at my actions and then said, "There's some other people I want you to meet when you get up, so we're going down to the local bar when you're ready."

"Aren't you a little young to be going to a bar?" I asked her, my eyebrow cocking.

"Not down here," she said with a smile. "Everyone here goes to Tim's. It's no big deal." And with that she skipped out of the room, calling Jasper's name.

Something told me that I should be worried about that fact, but I knew that Jasper wouldn't let Alice get into any trouble, so there was no need to worry. And now that I had the room to myself, I closed my eyes and drifted off to sleep.

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When I woke up a few hours later, I changed closes and headed downstairs and was greeted by a very excited Alice and a very amused looking Jasper.

"Alright, Alice. Let's go before you have a heart attack," I said as she started to bounce excitedly.

"Okay, let's go," she chirped as she grabbed Jasper's hand and pulled him towards the door.

We drove back into town (if you could call it a town, it was more of a street) and all of the lights from the buildings lit the street up in the night. We pulled up in front of a building that had a red neon sign that read _Tim's Bar_ and you could hear country music blaring through the walls.

We got out of the car and headed towards the entrance of the bar. We walked in the door and I was greeted by the smell of alcohol and smoke and the sight of what seemed like the whole town's younger population. There were a few older men sitting in one corner, ignoring all of the noise around them and enjoying their drinks.

As we walked through the bar, everyone in bar decided that it would be a good idea to stare a me as I walked by. That made me feel a little bit more that uncomfortable and I was thankful when Alice and Jasper stopped in front of a table that was occupied by a very large guy with dimples and a mop of dark curly hair and a girl with long wavy blond hair and bright blue eyes. They both appeared to be about a year older than me.

"Hey, guys!" Alice said as she sat down next to the blond girl. "I want you to meet my big brother Edward. He's visiting for a little while from up north. Edward, this is Emmett Swan and his girlfriend, oh wait, _fiancée_ Rosalie Hale."

"It's nice to meet you," I said, sticking my hand out for Emmett to shake, but instead of a hand shake, he pulled me into a rather large bear hug. So this was the Emmett that my mother and Alice were talking about.

"Eddie-boy! Glad you finally made it!" Emmett's very loud and very southern voice boomed.

When Emmett let go, Rosalie smiled sheepishly and said, "You really must excuse him. He doesn't always know how to control himself. I'm Rose, by the way." She stuck out her hand and I shook it gently. Rose had a slight southern accent and fit her perfectly.

"Edward," I said as she nodded in response. "And I'm used to things like that. I used to live with Alice." I smirked in my little sister's direction. She stuck her tongue out at me in return.

"Has anyone seen Bella?" Alice asked.

"Who's Bella?" I asked her.

"Bella's Emmett's little sister. She's nineteen like me. You'll like her. She works here, you know." she said with a smile.

I sat back in my chair and talked with everyone at the table, getting to know them and all. Emmett was the prankster of the group and Rose, who looked like she was an angel, was his partner-in-crime. She, Emmett, Jasper, and Bella grew up together here.

"So Edward, you got a girlfriend?" Emmett asked.

I froze. I was hoping that we wouldn't bring this subject up, but it was inevitable. "Um, no, not at the moment."

Alice looked confused. "But what about Tanya?"

"We broke it off right before I left," I said. "It just wasn't working out." I didn't want to have to think about this right now.

"Well, you better watch yourself while your down here. If some of these girls find out you're single, then ooo boy. Well, more specifically your butt," Emmett said, looking around at some of the girls that were eyeing our table. "See what I mean?" he asked, motioning towards the girls.

"Yeah, thanks for the warning," I said trying to avoiding any eye contact with the people around me.

After we had gotten to know each other, we all ordered some drinks (I gave Alice a look telling her that there better not be any alcohol in hers) and everyone else started there own conversations. I let my eyes wander around the room and then my eyes fell on an angel.

She was standing behind the bar, mixing and serving drinks. She had shiny, silky-looking mahogany hair that fell in waves around her shoulders and ended a little below them. She had the face of an angel with her delicate facial features and her full deep red lips. She had a petite figure with curves in all the right places that you could see through her tight white tank top and blue jeans. She couldn't be more than five foot four or so.

Then she looked up and met my eyes with hers. Her eyes were a chocolate brown color and they glittered even in the dim lighting of the bar. She smiled a small smile at me and fluttered her fingers at me in a small wave. My breathe hitched when she did that.

I finally got myself to breathe normally again and smiled slightly at her and winked, not wanting everyone around me to notice our little exchange.

She raised her hand to cover her mouth and she looked like she was trying to hold in a giggle.

For the rest of the night, the girl and I kept sneaking glances at each other and I was completely mesmerized my her.

When Alice and Jasper decided that they were going to leave, I got up with them and with one last wink at the girl, I left the bar.

We got back to the house and I walked up to my room in a trance-like state. I collapsed on my bed and smiled when the girl's face popped into my head.

And then I sat up so quickly that my head started to spin. How could I have so stupid? God, I'm an idiot!

And I bet you're wondering why I'm an idiot. Well, I'll tell you.

I forgot to get her name.

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We let it rip when we got the money  
Let it roll if we got the gas  
Its buck wild yeah but that's the way we get down  
In a hicktown  
Hicktown - Jason Aldean

**A/N: Hope you guys liked that. Thanks again for all of the reviews and alerts! Song for this chapter is on my website. And just to make sure that none of you are confused about the ages in this story, they are:**

**Edward: 21  
****Bella: 19  
****Alice: 19  
****Jasper: 22  
****Emmett: 22  
****Rosalie: 22**

**Please review! They make me happy! And when I'm happy, I update faster *wink, wink, nudge, nudge***

**Peace out, girl scouts!**

**Kitti :)**


	3. Ch 3 Who Says You Can't Go Home

**A/N: Hey guys! Sorry for the wait. School was being crazy as usual. Thanks for all of the reviews! Ya'll are flippin' awesome! Anyway, I'll let you read since you all waited so patiently.**

**Disclaimer: See Chapter 1.**

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Soundtrack: _Who Says You Can't Go Home_ by Bon Jovi ft. Jennifer Nettles

**Chapter 3: Who Says You Can't Go Home**

**(Edward's POV)**

I woke up the next morning and jumped out of bed and ran down the stairs, looking for the pixie that was my sister. I made my way into the kitchen to find my mother cooking breakfast. "Good morning, dear," she said to me with a smile. "How did you sleep last night?"

I smiled slightly. "Like a baby." _Because I was dreaming about an angel_, I added in my head, thinking about the girl from the bar last night.

"Well, that's good," she said, smiling up at me.

"Have you seen Alice? I need to ask her something," I asked my mom.

"Yes, she's outside in the stables with your father," she said. "Would you mind getting them for me? Breakfast's almost ready."

"Not at all," I told her. "I'll be right back." I left the kitchen through the backdoor that led to the back of the house where the stables were. I made my way over to the stables and walked through the doors and got a large whiff of horse.

"Dad? Alice?" I called into the stable.

"Back here, son," I heard my father call from one of the back stalls.

I walked towards the back of the stables and found my father and Alice standing in one of the stalls with one of the horses. Alice was brushing it down and my father was watching. Alice loved to ride horses, hence the stables.

"Hey. Mom, said breakfast is ready. She wants you to clean up," I told them. They both nodded and Alice went to put away the brush and then we all headed towards the house.

I grabbed Alice's arm and held her back before we actually went into the house. "Hey, I need to ask you something," I whispered to her, not wanting to let our dad hear.

She nodded and asked curiously, "What?"

I looked down and scuffed my foot along the ground. "Umm… I was wondering if maybe we could go back to the bar tonight. I had fun last night."

I looked at Alice's face and I saw that she was smiling. "Sure, Edward. I'll go call everyone up. And you can finally meet Bella. We never got to introduce you two last night."

I smiled down at my little sister. "Alright, thanks. Now let's go get some breakfast. I'm starving." Alice laughed and we both went into the house.

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The sun had just gone down and Alice, Jasper, and I were walking into the bar again. We were going to meet Emmett and Rose here.

As soon as I stepped into the bar, I looked around for my mystery girl, wanting to make sure that she was here. I scanned the entire room and I didn't catch a glimpse of her at all.

I sighed, dejected, and followed Alice and Jasper to the same table that we had been sitting at the night before. I fell into my chair and greeted Emmett and Rose, trying not to sound too dejected. Thankfully, they didn't seem to notice.

I saw out of the corner of my eye Alice whispering something into Emmett's ear. Emmett's face broke into a bright grin and he nodded. He kissed Rose on the cheek and headed towards the stage at the front of the room.

"What's he doing up there?" I asked, my curiosity getting the better of me.

Everyone just grinned and said, "You'll see."

I watched Emmett bend down to say something into an older man's ear. The man, who looked like he was in his early sixties, nodded and walked onto the stage and picked up one of the mikes as Emmett made his way back to the table. "How's everyone doin' tonight?" the man asked with a thick southern accent.

The crowd cheered loudly and whistled. The man laughed a bit and continued. "Anyway, I've been informed by a somewhat trustworthy source---"

"Hey, I resent that!" Emmett called from his seat. Everyone around us laughed loudly at him.

The man chuckled into the mike. "I'm sure you do, Em. Anyway, Emmett has just told me that we have a visitor in our humble little town."

I froze. Oh no, they better not be talking about me.

"He is said to be here with our little Alice," the man said, nodding towards Alice, who just smiled brightly as if I wasn't about to be publicly humiliated. She just winked at me as the man continued. "And before all of you gossipin' fools start to talk, he's her brother."

And yes, they were talking about me and I was surely about to be publicly humiliated and I'm sure it's all Alice's fault. It usually is.

"Now, come on up here and introduce yourself, boy, before I come down here and get ya myself," the man said, looking directly at me.

I sank lower into my seat, but then I felt two large hands grab the top half of my arms and lift me from my chair and set me on my feet. I looked back to see Emmett standing there, smiling like a fool. He gave me a gentle push in the direction of the stage and I knew that I wasn't going to get out of this.

I made my way up to the stage and stood next to the man. "What's your name, boy?" the man asked.

"Edward."

"Any nicknames?" he asked.

"No, it's just Edward," I said.

"I'm Tim, by the way. Do you like music, Edward?" Tim asked.

"Yes," I said.

"Do you like to sing?" he asked me.

"Um… sometimes," I said, not really sure where he was going with this.

Tim nodded, smiling at me. "Well that's good and now that we've got that out of the way, I'm going to tell ya about a little tradition that we've got here at Tim's," Tim said.

"And that would be?" I asked, getting a few laughs from the crowd.

"Well, if you haven't noticed, we like music and singin' down here just as much as we like visitors. And because we like those two things so much, we here at Tim's have always liked to mix those two things together."

He better not ask me to do what I think he's about to ask me to do.

"To put it simply, all visitors to Tim's are asked to sing a song for the rest of us here," Tim said.

I knew that if I wanted to get out of this, then I had to think fast. "Oh, you really don't want to hear me sing. It's not really that good."

"Oh Edward, quit being modest," the evil traitor that was my sister said with an evil smile from our table. "You have the voice of an angel."

"Well, you can't argue with the sister, now can you?" Tim said with a laugh. I shot a glare at Alice, who only smiled back.

"Now, now. We'll even give you a partner. Hmm," he mused, tapping his finger against his chin. "Who should it be?"

He thought for another moment before he scanned the room and apparently found the person he was looking for. "Ah, I think I've found the perfect one. Bella, come here. You'll do just fine."

Bella? Was this the same Bella that Alice wanted to introduce to me?

I was pulled out of my thoughts when I heard the footsteps of my singing partner. My breath hitched when I saw who it was.

It was my mystery girl. My mystery girl was Bella? Bella was my mystery girl? This might not be as bad as I thought it might be.

"Alright, Edward. This is Bella," Tim said, gesturing towards her. "And Bella, this is Edward. I'm sure you two will get to know each other real well."

Bella smiled. "Oh, I already know plenty about him," she said in a sweet bell-like voice with just a hint of a southern accent She winked at me and I felt my breath get caught in my throat again.

"Ooo," Tim said, his eyebrows raised. "This should be interesting. Alright, you two, let's get this show on the road."

Tim handed us both mikes and then left the stage as the music started to play. I thankfully knew the song that they had chosen. I was slightly comforted by the fact that I wasn't up here by myself. I took a deep breath and started to sing.

**(A/N: Go listen to this song while you read this. It's on my website under the STSL Pics Link. It helps with the scene development.  
****Bold=Edward, **_Italics=Bella, &__** Italic Bold=Both**_**)**

**I've spent twenty years trying to get out of this place  
****I was looking for something I couldn't replace  
****I was running away from the only thing I've ever known**

The crowd had started to clap with the beat of the song and it calmed be a bit more. At least I hadn't messed up yet.

It was Bella's turn to sing. It took all of my will to keep my jaw from dropping when her sweet voice started to fill the room.

_Like a blind dog without a bone  
__I was a gypsy lost in the twilight zone  
__I hijacked a rainbow and crashed into a pot of gold_

We both started to sing together, baritone and soprano.

_**I've been there, done that and I ain't looking back on the seeds that I've sown  
**_**Saving dimes, spending too much time on the telephone  
****Who says you can't go home**

I looked over at Bella and saw that she was looking at me as well. I smiled at her as I sang and she smiled back.

_**Who says you can't go home  
**__**There's only one place that they call me one of their own  
**_**Just a hometown boy born a rolling stone  
****Who says you can't go home**

_**Who says you can't go back  
**__**Been all around the world and as a matter of fact, there's only one place left I wanna go  
**__**Who say you can't go home**_

The crowd started to sing with both of us.

**It's alright, it's alright, it's alright, it's alright, **_**it's alright**_

_I went as far as I could trying to find a new face  
__There isn't one of these lines that I would erase  
__I left a million miles of memories on that road_

I was mesmerized by Bella's voice. It was just amazing and it made me lose all of my coherent thoughts. I was surprised that I started at the right time.

**Every step I take I know I'm not alone  
****You can take the home from the boy, **_**but not the boy from his home  
**_**These are my streets, the only life I've ever known  
**_**Who says you can't go home**_

_**Who says you can't go home  
**__**There's only one place that they call me one of their own  
**_**Just a hometown boy **_**born a rolling stone  
**_**Who says you can't go home**

_**Who says you can't go back  
**__**Been all around the world and as a matter of fact, there's only one place left I wanna go  
**__**Who say you can't go home**_

The music got a bit softer and Bella and I looked into each other's eyes and I could feel something forming deep inside of me as we sang together.

**Doesn't matter where you are  
**_Doesn't matter where you go  
_**If it's a million miles away  
**_**Or just a mile up the road  
**__**Take it in, take it with you when you go  
**_**Who says you can't go home**

Bella and I continued singing, smiles on our faces. The crowd was joining in with us as we sang, singing and clapping to the beat.

_**Who says you can't go back  
**__**Been all around the world and as a matter of fact, there's only one place left I wanna go  
**_**Who say you can't go home  
****It's alright, it's alright, it's alright, **_**it's alright**_**, it's alright**

**Who say you can't go home  
****It's alright, it's alright, it's alright, **_**it's alright**_**, it's alright  
**_(It's alright…)_

**Who say you can't go home  
****It's alright, it's alright, it's alright, it's alright, it's alright**

_**Who says you can't go home**_

When the song ended, the room erupted in cheers and whistles. Bella grabbed my hand and raised our intertwined hands above our heads and we both bowed. When we straitened, I saw that Bella was laughing a bell-like laugh that I wanted to commit to memory.

Tim came back up onto the stage and clapped me on the back. "Well, my boy, that was one of the best performances we've had here at Tim's for a long time."

"Well, that's mostly because of Bella. I didn't do much," I said, looking over at Bella. I could see a delightful blush creeping up her into her cheeks.

"Oh no," Bella said, the blush still on her face. "It was mostly you. You have a wonderful voice."

Now it was my turn to blush. Normally I didn't blush at all, but now just happened to be the perfect time… when I'm on stage, next to the girl that has had me thinking about her since the first time I saw her.

Bella and I finally left the stage after Tim made the crowd applaud us again and we walked over to my table where I saw a very happy looking Alice bouncing up and down.

I shot her another glare (I still wasn't happy with her for springing that on me). "I hope you're happy, sister dearest," I said, my tone reflecting my annoyance.

"I'm very happy, brother dearest," she said, glancing down at something. I looked down and I saw that Bella's hand was still in mine. Bella looked down as well and quickly loosened her grip on my hand. I let go as well and slipped my hand behind my back. I saw Bella flush slightly.

"Sorry about that," she muttered softly.

"There's no need to be," I whispered into her ear as I picked up her hand and kissed it gently. I felt an electric spark shoot through my body when I did. I looked up into her eyes and she looked as if she had felt it as well.

"Well, aren't you two just the cutest thing." I looked up to see Emmett smirking down at Bella and I. "I see you've met my baby sister, Edward," he said, looking down at me with his eyebrow cocked.

"Ah, so this _is_ the Bella that everyone wanted me to meet," I said, looking around at the people at our table.

"Yep," Alice chirped. "This is Bella Swan. And Bella, this is my big brother Edward."

"It's wonderful to finally meet you," Bella said. "You're all that Alice ever talks about when she isn't talking about Jasper." She giggled.

"That's what I've been told," I said, smirking at Alice, who just continued to smile.

Bella laughed and then someone called her name. "Sorry, I've got to get back to work. I'll see you guys later. Bye, everyone. It was lovely meeting you, Edward," she said before walking back to the bar. She turned to look over her shoulder and winked at me before disappearing behind the bar.

"That went well," Alice said, bouncing up and down next to me.

"Yeah," I breathed, still slightly blown away by Bella. She was something else to say the least. Last night she was very flirtatious and then tonight she seemed to blush at the smallest thing and then she went back to being the same girl from the night before. I've never met a girl quite like her before.

We stayed for a little while longer and then we decided that it was time for us to get back to the house.

We were heading towards the door when I caught Bella's eye. She smiled and fluttered her fingers in the same wave that she had used last night. Then she blew me a kiss and went straight back to her work.

I walked out into the somewhat cool night and realized one thing: I was in for one heck of a summer.

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**Doesn't matter where you are  
****Doesn't matter where you go  
If it's a million miles away  
****Or just a mile up the road  
Take it in, take it with you when you go  
Who Says You Can't Go Home - Bon Jovi feat. Jennifer Nettles**

**A/N: Thanks again for waiting. You guys are awesome. I hope you liked this chapter. The song is on my website. Well, I've got nothing else to say except for please review.**

**Peace out, girl scouts!**

**Kitti :)**


	4. Ch 4 I Could Fly

**A/N: Hey guys! I'm so sorry about the wait! I was finishing my other story and I wanted to get the sequel up as well. But now that that is done, I'm going to write this chapter for ya'll and now I'm going to stop rambling and let you read.**

**Disclaimer: See Chapter 1.**

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Soundtrack: _**I Could Fly **_**by Keith Urban**

**Chapter 4: I Could Fly**

**(Edward's POV) **

I woke up the next day and laid in my bed for what seemed like a very long time, just thinking of the girl that had caught my attention in an unthinkably short amount of time.

Bella Swan was a very interesting person to say the least. There was just no way to describe her.

I looked over at the clock and saw that it was already noon. I sighed and got up and got dressed in a simple green t-shirt and jeans. It was very warm down here (much different from Chicago). I was debating on whether or not I should brush my hair, but with hair like mine, I saw no point in it (my hair had a mind of its own).

I went downstairs to find that no one was home. I went into the kitchen and saw that there was a note of the counter.

_Edward,_

_Your father and I have gone to visit some friends in town. We'll be back before dinner. Alice is out with Jasper. She'll be back when ever she gets back. You know Alice. Feel free to do whatever you want. We'll see you at dinner._

_Love, Mom _

After I was finished reading the note, I looked around the kitchen for something to do. Nothing.

I didn't feel like cooking anything, so I grabbed my car keys and decided that I might as well look around the town a bit.

I drove the twenty minute drive into town and parked in front of the bar and got out and looked around. I had no idea about where to start.

When my stomach growled, I knew that I needed to find some food. I looked around and spotted what looked like a some type of diner. I sighed and, seeing as it was the only restaurant in town, walked towards it after I locked my car.

I pushed open the door and walked in. The diner looked exactly like I thought it would. There was a few booths at lined the walls and there were stools lining the front of the counter at the front of the room.

The diner wasn't crowded, just a few people eating silently and reading the morning paper at one or two of the booths. I walked up to the counter and sat at one of the stools and looked one of the menus while I waited for someone to serve me.

I looked up when I heard a door from the back of the diner closing. A small older woman with white hair and gentle, fun-loving blue eyes came out of the door and saw me sitting there. She smiled at me and called to the back of the diner for someone. "Hey, girlie, get your cute little rear out here and serve this handsome young man," she called. She winked at me and walked around the counter and went to check on her other costumers.

_Alright…_ I thought to myself. _That was odd._

"I'm coming," I heard a feminine voice call. The same door opened again and a girl with silky-looking brunette hair came out the door. Bella.

She was looking down and was tying a simple blue apron around her waist. When she looked up, she jumped when she saw me. "Oh God," I heard her mutter. She let a shy smile grace her beautiful face. "That was embarrassing."

I laughed. "Probably not as embarrassing as having an elderly woman wink at you," I said, looking back at the woman who was talking to a man at one of the booths.

Bella laughed. "I'm going to have to agree with you on that one. So, before I get fired for not doing my job, what can I get you?" she asked with a smile.

I smiled back at her. "Um, I think I'll have the chicken and some tea."

"Coming right up," she said as she skipped to the back. I could hear her telling the chef my order and then she came back.

She pulled a stool towards her and sat opposite me. "I didn't think this was your sort of place," she said to me, a smile creeping onto her face.

I laughed a bit. "It's normally not, but I can see why people like it," I said, winking at her. She flushed pink but smiled.

"So, how're you liking it down here in Greenville?" she asked, leaning against the counter towards me.

"Well, it's definitely different from Chicago," I said. "I don't think I've ever seen this much farmland in my life."

She laughed. "That's what we're known for down here."

"That's what I figured. But I guess I could say that I was enjoying myself," I told her. Her smile got bigger when I said this. I was ecstatic about the fact that she was actually smiling and seemed interested in what I was saying.

"That's good. Most city people usually always whine and complain about the smell of the cows or our lack of a mall," she said, laughing again. "But that might just be me complaining about them. I've never been to the city before, well, not a big city anyway. What's Chicago like?"

I smiled and launched into an in-depth description of Chicago. She looked like she was genuinely interested, which only made me happier.

"Wow, it sounds so much different from down here. You've just convinced me to visit Chicago," she said with a grin.

I grinned back. "Well, I would be happy to be you're personal tour guide."

"And I would happily take up your offer." That made my insides jump around for joy.

Someone called for Bella from the back and told me my food was ready. "I'll be right back," she said before she scurried to the back to get my food. She came back and sat the plate of chicken in front of me along with my tea. "Enjoy."

She sat back down and we talked as I ate. I would ask her random questions and she would answer them and then shoot off a question for me.

"I thought you worked at Tim's," I said to her as I ate.

"Oh, I do, but I only work the night shift though. I work here during the day. Gotta pay for tuition and all that," she said. "I don't really mind working here. It's kinda peaceful and you get to meet some very interesting people." She winked at me and my heart fluttered.

I had finished eating a while ago, but I didn't feel like leaving. Bella was something else. She was so enthusiastic when she talked about something that she had a passion for. I had asked her what she was studying in college and she went off into her own little world when she told me about her passion for writing.

I jumped when I phone rang. I pulled it out of my pocket and I saw Alice's name flashing across the screen. "I've got to take this," I told Bella. She nodded and went to wipe off the counter while I answered my phone. "Hello?" I said into the phone.

"Edward?" Alice asked.

"I'll be over here," Bella said, smiling a knowing smile. Apparently Bella knew all about Alice's tendencies.

Apparently Alice heard Bella. "Where are you?" Alice asked, sounding confused.

"I'm at the diner in town," I told her.

"Really? Are you with anyone?" she asked. She sounded like she was up to something, but I pushed the thought aside. She was always up to something.

"Yes, I'm with Bella," I said, a little quieter than before. I looked over at Bella and saw that she had a small smile on her face, but she hadn't look up from her work.

"Really?!" I cringed and held the phone away from my ear. If her voce had gone up one more octave, only dogs would have been able to hear it.

"Yes, Alice, really. Why does it matter?" I asked, putting the phone to my ear again when I thought it was safe again.

She laughed giddily into the phone. "Oh, no reason," she said. I knew she was smiling.

"Is there an actual reason you called, Alice?" I asked, sighing into the phone.

"Actually, yes, there is. I was wondering if you were planning on coming home anytime soon. It's already six," she said. I looked down at my watch and was surprised that it actually did say six o'clock.

"Oh, yeah, I'm coming. I lost track of time, I guess. I'll see you at the house," I told her.

"Okay. Take your time," she said, the smile evident in her voice.

"Alright. Bye," I said. She said bye and then hung up.

I looked back over at Bella to see that she was untying her apron and was hanging it on a hook at the end of the counter. "Are you leaving?" I asked and then regretted it. Now I just sounded desperate.

But my doubts were washed away when she smiled. "Yeah, I've got to get ready for my shift at Tim's."

"Okay," I said, trying to hold in my sadness. Apparently it worked. "I've got to get back to the house. Alice is determined to get me home for dinner."

Bella laughed her bell-like laugh. "That's happened to me once or twice. It's never easy to get out of."

"Well, I guess I'll let you get to your job," I said, sliding off of the stool. "It was great talking to you, Bella. I had fun."

"Me too," Bella said as she came around from the other side of the counter. "We should do it again."

I laughed. "I might have to take you up on that offer. Talking to Alice is torture on legs."

Bella laughed with me as we walked out of the diner. "Really though, I had fun," I said, looking down at her. She let a small smile grace her face. I took my her hand in mine and raised it to my lips and gave it a gentle kiss. "Good-bye, Bella." A light pink blush crept its way onto her face.

"Bye, Edward," she said, her voice almost a whisper.

And with that Bella went off in the direction of Tim's and I went to my car. I was about to get into my car when I heard someone calling my name. "Edward." I turned around to see Bella coming towards me.

"Yes?"

She came up to me and, much to my surprise, kissed me on the cheek. "I forgot to say thank you for today. It was the most fun I've had in a while."

"I'm glad you had fun," I said to her.

She smiled shyly, like she didn't know what to do next. "Well, I've got to go now," she said as she backed away from me. "I'll, um, see you later then."

"Yeah, I'll see you later," I said. Her smiled grew and she gave a small wave before she turned around and walked to Tim's.

I got into my car and sat there for a moment. I brought my hand up to my cheek where she had kissed me. The spot was tingling with electricity. A smile slipped onto my face. Bella made me feel like I never had before.

I started my car and headed back to my house.

I pulled into the driveway and got out of the car and locked it. I walked inside and threw my keys onto the counter. "I'm home," I called. I heard an excited yelp coming from the living room and then the scampering of tiny feet running from the other room. _Crap…_ I thought as Alice catapulted herself at me.

"Tell me everything!" she commanded.

"There's nothing to tell," I told her as I tried to pry her arms from around my waist.

"Yes, there is. There's always something to tell," Alice said, clinging tighter to me.

I sighed and gave in. "Fine. I went to the diner for something to eat and I saw Bella and then we talked for a while and then she had to go to work at Tim's and then I came home. The end." I left out the part about the kiss because I knew that Alice would have a heart attack at that very moment.

"You left something out!" she accused. "Tell me, please! Please!" She even pulled out my on true weakness, the puppy dog face.

"Ugh, fine," I sighed, defeated. "She may have… kissed me," I muttered the last part, hoping Alice wouldn't hear it.

But she did and she let out an ear-piercing squeal. "Really Alice, is that necessary? It was only on the cheek," I said, still trying to push her off of me.

"But it's so cute," she said. "This is so exciting!" And then she let go of me and then skipped off to the living room without another word.

"She's gets stranger every day," I muttered to myself as I went up to my room to wait for dinner.

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You don't know how much you've lifted me up

**But I feel so alive  
****That I could fly  
****I could fly  
****I Could Fly - Keith Urban**

**A/N: Hope you guys liked that. Sorry again for the wait. I'll try to update faster but exams are coming up, so it might be a while. But I will still update, it might be a bit slower though. Please review! I love reviews. They make me happy.**

**Peace out, girl scouts!**

**Kitti :)**


	5. Ch 5 Lesson In Leavin'

**A/N: Hey ya'll! Sorry for the wait, but exams are slowly drawing near and my teachers have decided to load more and more review homework on me, so that's my only excuse. But I hope you like this chapter. I thought it was time for a little bit of drama, if you know what I mean.**

**Disclaimer: See Chapter 1.**

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Soundtrack:

_**Lesson in Leavin' **_**by Jo Dee Messina**

**Chapter 5: Lesson in Leavin'**

**(Edward's POV) **

I've been in Greenville for almost a week now and I've come to realize that it's really not that bad once you get used to the smell of the cows. But other than that fact, it's actually been really nice. No one's mentioned the break-up yet and I'm happy about that.

I've gotten to spend time with my family and I've met some very, well, let's just say interesting people. Emmett is as wild and crazy as Alice and my mother had described him as, but he was fun to be around. Rose was great to be around and, thankfully, she was there to calm Emmett down when he got too excited. Jasper's great too. He was the quiet one of the group, but he did have his moments. He was great with Alice and that was just another plus I suppose.

And then there was Bella. Bella was just amazing. She was smart, funny, and witty. She knew what the say at the right times and she just made my stay down here even more enjoyable.

At the moment I was being dragged back into town by Alice. "Alice, where are we even going?" I asked.

"If you must know, we're going to the diner for dinner," she said. "We're going to be meeting everyone there." I probably should have known that. It's not like everyone has anything else to do around here.

Alice and I pulled up in front of the diner and we got out of her yellow Porsche and made our way into the diner. I looked over and saw that everyone was already sitting at one of the larger booths in the corner of the diner. I faltered for a second when I noticed the rather large guy with long black hair and russet-colored skin that was hovering over their table and standing very close to Bella, I might add.

Alice and I made our way over to the table. Alice skipped ahead of me and completely ignored the guy and slid into the booth and sat next to Jasper. Jasper wrapped his arm around her shoulder and pulled her closer to him. I found this odd, not because I haven't seen him do it before, but because of the way that he was eyeing the new guy as he did it. I looked at the others and saw that they all had similar looks on their faces.

Bella just looked plain uncomfortable, but her face brightened into a smile when she saw me. "Edward!" Bella called and waved me over. I smiled at her and maneuvered my way around the guy and sat down next to Bella. She smiled at me and, surprisingly, kissed my cheek. "Please help me," she whispered into my ear and I saw her glance flicker towards the guy. I gave a slight nod and looked up at the guy. I caught the last glimpse of the somewhat taken aback look that he had on his face, but then it changed to one of hatred.

I smirked a bit. "Can I help you?" I asked.

"Yeah, you can get away from my girlfriend," the guy said, looking at Bella.

"Girlfriend?" I asked, my heart dropped directly into my stomach when he said that. Bella was taken? That just ruined my whole evening.

"_Ex_-girlfriend," Bella said, glaring up at the guy. "For the love of God, Jake, we broke up two years ago. Let it go." My heart jumped right back up and I was really considering doing a happy dance at the moment, but, because of the current situation, that probably would be a bit uncalled for.

"Well, usually break-ups are mutual things," Jake said. "And, frankly, I didn't want to break up with you."

Bella groaned along with the rest of the table. Apparently they've all heard this before. "Well, I wanted to break up with you. You were a jerk back then and, with the way you're acting now, you're still one. Now leave before I get the boys to help you remember the way out the door."

"Gladly," I heard Emmett and Jasper mutter as they glared up at Jake.

"Fine, but can I talk to you for a second, please?" Jake asked, his eyes flickering to me for a second and then back to her.

Bella sighed and nodded. I got up and she slid out of the booth and walked outside, Jake following behind her.

I looked at the others. "Um, who was that and why was he glaring at me the entire time?" I asked.

"That was Jacob Black. He and Bella used to date back in high school, but she broke up with him before he graduated and went to college," Emmett explained. "But he's delusional and still thinks that they're still going out." Emmett glared out the window at Jacob.

"You mean that he's been chasing her around for almost two years?" I asked in disbelief.

"Yep," Emmett said. "I'm surprised that she's being so calm about it still. He's been pestering her a lot more lately." He looked back out the window and flinched back when he did. "Alright, I take that back. She just slapped him in the face." It looked like he was torn between laughing or wanting to run outside and beat Jacob over the head.

I turned around and saw that Bella was walking in the other direction of the diner. Jacob was still standing outside the door, looking shocked.

**(Bella's POV from when she left)**

I slid out of the booth and made my way towards the door and walked outside into the summer heat. Apparently the climate was matching my mood. God, Jacob made me so angry. I can't even begin to comprehend why the fact that we're not dating anymore won't get through his head.

I turned around the face him when I heard the diner door close behind him. "You need to give it up and give it up _now_. I'm tired of having to deal with you constantly. We've been broken up for two years now. Two! Get it through your impossibly thick head! I've moved on and you need to, too!"

"But, Bella, I want to be with you. I don't want to move on. We're meant to be together. We need to be to--" I cut him off right there. I didn't need to hear this again.

"Jacob, if we're meant to be together, then why did you start going out with Leah Clearwater not even a day after I broke up with you? Huh? Was she not good enough for you either?" He didn't say anything. "That's what I thought."

I started to make my way towards the door to go back inside when he said, "So now you're going to run back to your new little boy toy and go play with him, since apparently I'm not good enough."

That really set me off. I spun around and slapped him right across the face. "Don't you ever talk about him like that. Edward is twice the man you'll ever be, Jacob Black. And how dare you think that I would ever do anything like that." And with that, I stormed away from the diner. I could feel tears of rage sliding down my face as I walked away. I couldn't face my friends when I was like this. I needed to calm down.

**(Edward's POV from where we left off)**

Emmett was about to get up and go after her, but I told him to sit back down. "Maybe it'll help if I went to talk to her. Let her get a new perspective." Emmett hesitated at first, but then nodded and sat back down next to Rose. I got up and walked out the door after Bella.

I walked past Jacob, not wanting to talk to him at all. If he had made Bella mad enough for her to just storm off into the town at night, then he was going to be in for a very big surprise.

I moved in the direction that I had seen Bella go in and I probably would have passed her if I hadn't had heard the small sniffle coming from inside the inside of a rusty, old, red truck. Bella was sitting in the truck bed, cured up into a ball. She was so small in her current position that her head was obscured by the top of the truck bed.

"Bella," I said quietly, not wanting to startle her. She jumped a bit and looked up. She had tears running down her face. I felt my temper starting to rise. He had made her cry!

When she saw me, she quickly started to try to wipe them away from her face. "Hey, hey, hey," I said in a soft voice as I caught her wrists in my hands and pulled them down. "It's okay."

"I'm sorry, Edward. I didn't want you to see me like this," she whispered, looking away from me. "It's just he makes me so mad."

"I'm sorry, Bella," I said, my voice still soft. I gently used my thumbs to wipe away the tears that were still running down her face. "I hate seeing you cry," I whispered so softly that I doubt she heard me.

"Listen, Bella, I know that he frustrates you to no end and that you want him to stop bothering you," She nodded. "And I know that you know that everyone here wants to help you, including me."

She looked up at me. "Even you?"

I nodded and smiled slightly. "Even me." She smiled a bit as well.

Once she had calmed down and her tears had stopped, I helped her out of the truck bed and she kissed my cheek softly. "Thank you for coming after me."

"You're more than welcome. I hate seeing you upset," I confessed to her. She smiled and took my hand and we walked back to the diner. When we got there, Jacob was gone. I looked over at Emmett and he nodded. Apparently Emmett took care of that small fact.

"You okay, Bells?" Emmett asked softly when we both came up to the table. She nodded and slid back into the booth.

After that the subject was dropped and we went on with our evening. Everyone lightened up and started laughing after a bit. Bella was smiling again and you couldn't even tell that she had been upset at all.

Once everyone was ready to leave, we all decided to go our separate ways. Alice and I had to get back to the house (out parents wanted to see us), so we were going home.

Before Alice and I left, Bella pulled me off the side. "Thank you again for coming after me," she said sincerely.

I hesitated for a second but then I brushed my fingertips over her face. "It's no trouble at all. Tell me if he does anything again. Please. I don't like seeing you upset."

She nodded and then Alice called me. I had to go. "Bye, Edward. See you later," Bella said.

I nodded. "Bye, Bella," I said as I went to meet Alice by the car. Bella waved and then went to find Emmett and Rose.

The ride back home was silent and I was thankful for that. I didn't feel like talking. If Jacob did anything else to Bella I was seriously going to have to deal with him myself. And that I wouldn't mind doing at all.

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A/N: Ohh, Jacob's here to stir up some trouble. Ha ha. And trust me, there will be plenty more drama coming up in this story. Anyway, I hope you liked that chapter. And I know that Bella was a little OOC here, but it's needed for the story. Sorry again for the wait. Please review! Reviews are very good things in my book. ;)

**And for those of you who are reading my other story, **_**On Opposite Ends II: Total War**_**, I'm sorry about not updating that story. I'm getting to it, I promise. It just might take a while.**

**Peace out, girl scouts!**

**Kitti :)**


	6. Ch 6 Faster Car

**A/N: I'm so sorry about the wait. I've had exams and all the jazz that comes along with them. But there over and done, so I have more time to write now. Exciting, ain't it? Anyway, I'll let you read now.**

**Disclaimer: See Chapter 1.**

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Soundtrack:

_**Faster Car **_**by Keith Urban**

**Chapter 6: Faster Car**

**(Edward's POV) **

"Edward, where are you?" Alice's soprano voice came floating up the stairs. I rolled over in bed and pulled the pillow over my head, trying to muffle her voice. My head was pounding. The guys and I might have gone a little over bored with the drinking last night which landed me with one of the worst hangovers that I had ever had.

"Not so loud, Alice," I grumbled into the pillows on my bed as I pulled them tighter around my head, trying to block out all light and sound.

"You need to get up and eat something," Alice said as she pranced into the room. "It'll help your hangover." She let out a small giggle and then skipped out of the room.

I sighed and got up, squinting against the light that only made my head throb more. I walked into my bathroom and got into the shower. After I was done, I got dressed and walked downstairs to find a large stack of pancakes waiting for me on the table. I sat down and started eating, trying to ignored the constant pounding of my head.

"Good morning, dear," my mother said as she came into the dining room and sat my and my father's plates down in the table. She kissed the top of my head and went to go get my father.

After a minute, both my mother and father came into the room followed by Alice, who skipped over to her seat next to mine and sat down next to me.

"Good morning, son," Dad said to me.

"Morning," I muttered to him.

"Rough night?" he asked, a small smirk on his face. I grunted in acknowledgment. He chuckled softly and then went on eating.

A few minutes later, my mother said, "Oh! Edward, we never gave you your birthday present." My stomach started to churned when I heard the word _birthday_.

"Really?" I asked, trying to sound interested.

My mother nodded. "We'll give it to you when all of your friends come over."

I nodded and then excused myself from the table and went back up to my room and collapsed on my bed. Thankfully the food had made my head stop pounding, so I could think straight. The problem with that was that I didn't really want to be able to think at the moment.

At the mention of my birthday all of the memories that I had only wanted to forget came flooding back to me. The picture of James pressing Tanya against the club wall kept flashing through my mind and my heart jerked in pain every time.

Tanya had tried to call everyday since I left, but I hadn't answered any of the calls. I deleted all of the messages that she left (I didn't want to hear her pathetic excuses). I would call her when I felt like talking to her.

Someone knocked on my door. "Come in," I called, my voice sounding hollow.

The door opened to reveal my mother. "Hey, sweetie, are you alright?" she asked quietly as she came over to sit next to me on the bed.

I didn't say anything. I just stared up at the ceiling, not really wanting to talk about it yet, and shrugged.

I heard her sigh quietly. "Well, when you're ready to talk about it, I'm here."

"I know," I said, finally looking at her.

She gave me a warm smile and then patted my leg. "Come on, everyone's here. It's time that you got your present."

I blinked and looked over at the clock to see that it was already noon. Had I really been up here that long? I shook it off and nodded and got up with my mother. We walked downstairs and I saw that Emmett, Jasper, Rose, and Bella sitting on the couch, waiting the TV.

They all looked up when my mother and I came into the room and smiled at me. "Carlisle," my mother called into the kitchen. "Edward's here. Come on."

"I'm coming, dear," I heard my father say as he walked into the room. He was holding a small box in his hand. He handed me the box and nodded at it. "Go on, open it."

I unwrapped the box with everyone's eyes on me. Once all of the paper was gone, I opened the box to reveal a single car key. I pulled out the key and looked at the logo on it. _Aston Martin_.

My felt my eyes get really big when I saw the logo. I looked up at my parents. "You didn't?" I asked, wondering if this was a joke.

They both smiled and nodded. "It's in the garage if you want to go look at it," my father said, still smiling.

I went to the garage door and opened it. I felt a smile stretch across my face, all signs of my bad mood gone, because sitting in front of me was my very own glossy black Aston Martin V12 Vanquish **(I'm not going to put a picture up. Ya'll know what it looks like)**.

I walked over to it and pushed the unlock button on the key and opened the driver's side door. The interior was fantastic. I turned to see everyone standing at the garage door. My parents were smiling at me. Emmett, Jasper, and Rose were staring at the car (I think Emmett was drooling a bit). Alice and Bella were smiling but they looked sort of confused about the entire concept of the car.

"Thank you," I said to my parents, sincerity ringing throughout my voice.

"You're very welcome, dear. I'm surprised that your father even gave you the keys. He wanted to keep them to himself," my mother laughed, looking up at my father.

"What can I say? It's a nice car," my father said, smirking. I chuckled a bit at that.

"Um… I'm going to take it for a drive now, so if you'll excuse me," I said as I slid into the car.

Everyone laughed at that. "Have fun, dear," I heard my mother call before I closed the door and backed out of the garage.

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I came back after about an hour of just driving around and walked into the living room and saw that everyone was still here.

"How was your drive?" Alice asked with a smirk.

"Awesome," I said as I fell into the only open seat left in the room, which happened to be next to Bella. She smiled up at me and I smiled back at her.

For the rest of the afternoon I just talked and laughed with everyone, Tanya never even crossing my mind.

This is until she called me again. I pulled out my phone and I saw her name flashing across the screen. I rolled my eyes and hit the ignore button. Thankfully no one said anything about it.

After about an hour, my mother and father excused themselves to go to town for a bit.

After they were gone everyone rearranged themselves. Emmett and Jasper moved to the floor and turned on the Xbox and started to play. Rose and Alice moved to sit behind their respective boyfriends. Bella and I stayed where we were, too comfortable to move. As time went by, I saw Alice seeking glances at Bella and I, who had been having a completely separate conversation with each other.

I was worrying a bit about Bella and her problem with Jacob, so I asked her about it. "How has the Jacob issue been going?"

She just rolled her eyes. "He just keeps trying to call me and it's getting very annoying. But other than that, nothing too bad."

I nodded and dropped the subject that I honestly didn't want to talk about.

When dinnertime rolled around, my parents walked through the door and my mother said to our guests, "You all are welcome to stay for dinner."

"Thanks, Mrs. C!" Emmett boomed from his seat on the floor next to Jasper where they were playing on the Xbox. There was a large explosion on the screen. "Aww, Jasper, you cheated again!"

"I did no such thing," Jasper said, trying not to smile at Emmett's accusation. "You just suck at this game."

My mother called us all into the dining room and we all sat down. "Oh, Bella, you sit next to Edward," Alice said as she took a seat next to Jasper.

"Alright," she said as she came to my side of the table. I looked over at Alice and she just winked at me and turned back to Jasper.

There was a steady stream of conversation at dinner. After dinner, we all decided that we should watch a movie. My parents gracefully bowed out of this and headed up to their bedroom.

We all moved into the living room again and Alice skipped over to the DVD collection and pulled out a movie. She made her way over to the DVD player and popped in the movie and skipped over to where Jasper was sitting and sat herself down onto his lap. Emmett and Rose chose to take a seat on the floor, their position mirroring Jasper and Alice's. Bella and I chose to sit on the love seat. She was sitting on one side while I was sitting on the other and I didn't like that at all.

I had been watching the other two couples in the group and I realized that I missed the feeling of having someone in my arms. But what I really wanted was for that someone to be Bella. She was perfect in every way. She was beautiful on the inside and out. She was smart and witty and clever. She knew how to stand up for herself and the others around her. She was just perfect.

"Bella," I whispered to her as the beginning credits started to play. She looked over at me and I patted the spot next to me gently. She glanced at the others for a brief second and then smiled and moved over to sit next to me. I was bubbling with happiness on the inside because on it.

I placed my arm behind Bella and on the top of the couch, resting it there. What I didn't expect was for Bella to take my hand and pull it off the back of the couch and then wrap my arm around her shoulders. "Is this okay?" she asked quietly, a slight blush creeping up onto her cheeks.

"It's more than okay," I whispered and pulled her closer into my side. I could feel her relax into me and I had to hold in the enormous smile that was bound to appear on my face as soon as everyone was gone.

"Oh crap," I heard Bella mutter from beside me.

"What is it?" I asked.

"Let's just say horror is not my favorite film genre," she whispered back.

"It's alright," I told her. "It's just a movie." She nodded and pressed herself closer to me.

Bella was doing fine until something decided to jump out from out of nowhere which caused Bella to jump about five feet in the air. "For the love of all things good and holy!" Bella yelped, her southern accent thicker than normal.

Everyone started laughing at that and Bella hid her face against my chest. "That's quite an accent you've got there," I whispered in her ear.

She glared at me playfully. "I can't really control that. It comes out on its own." **(This is a very true fact. The southern accent tends to slip out when least expected. Well, mine does anyway. LOL.)**

I chuckled quietly. "There's no need to get defensive. I like your accent. It's cute," I told her. She blushed and buried her face into my chest again. I just laughed softly and kissed the top of her head gently.

There weren't anymore incidents after that. When the movie was over, Emmett said that they needed to get home. I looked down to see why Bella wasn't getting up and saw that she was asleep. "Edward," I heard her breathe quietly. I thought she had woken up, but she hadn't moved at all except to snuggle closer to me.

I smiled down at her and kissed the top of her head again. I moved slowly so not to wake her up and then I scooped her up into my arms and carried her to the door where Emmett, Rose, and Jasper were waiting.

"She fell asleep," I told them. Emmett just chuckled and took Bella from my arms. I immediately missed her, but I didn't let it show. Everyone said their goodbyes and then Emmett, Jasper, Rose, and Bella left.

I turned to see Alice just looking at me. "What?" I asked her.

She didn't say anything. Instead she just smiled and said, "Goodnight, Edward," and then skipped off to her room. I shook my head at her and headed up to my room as well, thinking about Bella then entire time.

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A/N: Aww! Edward and Bella are just so cute together! Don't you think? Anyway, please review! They make me happy. And I'm sorry again for the wait.

**Peace Out, Girl Scouts!**

**Kitti :)**


	7. Ch 7 I Know A Heartache

**A/N: Hey guys, please don't kill me. I'm so sorry for the long wait. I've been crazy busy lately and I haven't had much time to write, but I've got some time now, so here's chapter 7. Hope you like it.**

**Disclaimer: See Chapter 1.**

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Soundtrack: _I Know A Heartache _by Jo Dee Messina

**Chapter 7: I Know A Heartache**

**(Edward's POV)**

The next day Alice actually let me sleep in for once, so when I woke up it was almost noon. I groaned and rolled out of bed and got ready for whatever Alice was planning.

I walked down the stairs and into the kitchen to find my mom and Alice in the kitchen. "Good morning, dear," my mother greeted.

"Good morning," I replied as I poured myself a cup of coffee.

"So, Mom, did you hear that Edward and Bella have been getting a little cozy last night during the movie?" Alice asked as I nearly choked on my coffee.

I glanced over at my mother and saw that she had a slight smile on her face. "No, Alice, I hadn't heard that yet. Please do tell."

I just looked at my mother in astonishment. "Mom!"

She and Alice just laughed softly. "I'm just kidding, dear, but I will say that she is an excellent choice." She winked at me as she got up from her spot at the counter to place her cup in the sink.

I just shook my head and finished my coffee. Once I finished, I placed my cup in the sink and made my way back up to my room to grab my phone. As soon as I walked into the room, it started ringing. I looked at the screen to see who it was and I didn't recognize the number.

"Hello?" I answered.

"Hi, Edward. It's Bella," Bella's soft voice said from the other side of the phone.

I felt a smile creep onto my face when I heard her voice. Bella was calling me and that just made my day better. "Oh, hey! What's up?" I asked. _God, did that sound lame or what? _

"Um, nothing really. I was wondering if you and Alice would like to join us for some lunch," she said.

"Yeah, that would be great," I told her.

"Alright," she said. "We're actually going to head into the city today."

_Yes_, I thought. _Civilization._

"That's cool," I said. "I'll tell Alice."

"Okay, Emmett said he was coming to your house first anyway."

"Alright," I said. "See you soon."

"'K. Bye," she said before hanging up the phone.

I hung up my phone and walked downstairs. "Alice," I called.

"What?" she asked from the living room.

"We're going into the city today with everyone," I told her. She squealed and ran past me and up the stairs. I just laughed and went to go sit down on the couch until everyone else got here.

A little while later, Alice skipped down the stairs, ready to go, as soon as the doorbell rang. "I got it," she called to me. I got up off the couch and went into the entryway. "Jazzy!" Alice squealed and jumped into Jasper's arms.

"Hello, darling," Jasper said with a chuckle.

"Hey, Jazz," I greeted as I picked my keys out of the basket that we kept them in.

"Hey, Edward," Jasper said. "Emmett, Rose, and Bella are in the Jeep."

I nodded and we all walked out to the Jeep. "Eddie!" Emmett boomed from the driver's seat. "You ready for your first Alabama road trip?"

"I suppose?" It came out sounding like a question which only made everyone in the car laugh.

I was about to climb into the Jeep when I realized that there wasn't enough room for all of us. "I can drive myself. It's no big deal," I said when they noticed the situation.

"Oh, Edward," Alice pouted. "At least let someone go with you."

"Yeah," Bella finally spoke up. "I'll go with you." And then she blushed bright red for some reason, but I didn't think too much into it.

"Yeah, let Bella go with you," Alice encouraged.

"Are you sure?" I asked Bella. "I don't want to cause in trouble."

"Oh, hush," Bella said as she climbed out of the Jeep and walked over to stand next to me. "I'm going with you and that's final. And besides, you probably have no idea where you're going anyway."

I laughed. "That's probably true."

"Then it's settled," she said. She turned back to the rest of the group and said, "We'll meet you at the restaurant. Now go."

"Yes, ma'am." Emmett saluted and then waved before pulling out of the driveway and heading down the road.

Once they were gone, Bella turned to me and asked, "So which car is it to be? The expensive one or the even more expensive one?"

I laughed. "I'll let you take your pick. I love them too much to chose between them."

She just rolled her eyes and muttered something that sounded like "boys and their cars" which only made me chuckle. Bella started walking towards the Volvo, so I walked to the driver's side and unlocked the car for her and we both climbed into the car.

"Alright, let's go. I'm hungry," Bella said.

I laughed. "Okay. Where do I go?"

Bella told me the directions and then we started in that direction. Once we had been driving for about ten minutes, Bella said, "You know what?"

"What?" I asked.

"I've known you for about a week and I know nothing about you. I think we should play twenty questions," Bella stated.

I chuckled. "Alright. Ladies first."

She tapped her finger against her chin. "Hmm… what's your favorite color?" she asked.

"Favorite color, Bella? Really?" I asked.

"What? I'm starting with the basics," she retorted.

"Alright. I really like blue," I said looking over at Bella who was wearing a dark blue shirt that looked really good on her.

She noticed that I was looking at her and she blushed slightly. "Your turn," she said, looking away from me.

"What's your favorite color?" I asked.

"Green," she answered quickly and blushed again.

Why are you blushing?" I asked.

"Ah, ah, ah. You've already asked your question," she said, avoiding the question entirely.

"Fine. Next question," I sighed.

"What's your favorite song?" she asked.

I just looked at her. "That has got to be the hardest question ever. It's even worse than 'what's the meaning of life?'."

Bella laughed. "I'm sorry. I didn't know that."

"Well, you do now. And I guess if I had to pick one song as my favorite, I would have to say _Clare de Lune_ by Debussy," I said. I cringed mentally. I probably shouldn't have told her that I liked classical music. Every girl that I told about that, they would look at me like I had two heads and then change the subject very quickly. Even Tanya though that I was crazy for listening to it, but I didn't want to think about Tanya at the moment.

And then she said the one thing that I never would have suspected in a million years. "Really? I love _Clare de Lune_. It's my favorite."

"Really?" I asked incredulously.

"Yeah, it's been a favorite of mine since I was little. My mom played classical music around the house a lot. She still does actually and it drives my dad and Emmett crazy. It's very entertaining to watch," she said with a giggle.

I laughed along with her. "Alright, my turn. Why'd you blush when I asked you what your favorite color was?"

The blush that had left her face just moments earlier appeared again. She muttered the answer but I didn't hear her. "What was that again?"

"I said that it was the color of your eyes," she mumbled a little louder. She was avoiding all eye contact, probably feeling very embarrassed.

But I was anything but embarrassed. I was ecstatic beyond belief. She liked my eyes, which meant in a way she liked me. Yes, I know, that sounds like a middle school logic, but I was alright with that.

We pulled up to a stop light and I leaned over to whisper in her ear, "You know what? I like the color of your eyes too." Then I leaned back over to my side of the car.

She turned her head so that she was looking at me again and I noticed that her blush was still there, but the frown that had appeared on her face had been replaced by a smile.

After that drove some more and asked more questions. I learned that Bella was studying to become a writer or an English teacher if that didn't work out. She loved to sing and interact with people, but she could be shy. I told her that I was studying music back in Chicago and that I loved to play the piano.

"Oh, you have to play for me sometime," she begged eagerly. I chuckled and agreed.

We drove for a little while longer when Bella pointed out the window and said, "Oh, look! They're setting up for the fair. That's going to be so exciting this year."

"I've never been to a fair before," I stated.

Bella gasped in shock. "_Really?_" I nodded. "Oh my gosh, you have not lived until you've been to the fair. It's one of the best events of the year down here."

"When is it?" I asked.

"It starts on Friday," she informed me.

"Then I suppose that I shall add the fair to my list of things to do while I'm down here," I said.

"Great! You can come with everyone. It's one of the many traditions that come along with the start of the fair," she enthused.

We drove for a little while longer until we finally reached the city. Bella told me where the restaurant was and I drove there. I saw Emmett's Jeep and pulled into the spot next to it. I got out and went over to Bella's side to open her door before she could even reach for the handle.

"Well, aren't you the gentleman," she said with a giggle.

"I try," I said with a smile. She giggled as we both headed into the restaurant. We saw the group and headed over to their table. I pulled out Bella's chair and she blushed and thanked me. I sat down next to her and looked up to see everyone staring at us.

"What?" we asked at the same time. They just raised an eyebrow at us and shook their heads.

A bit after Bella and I sat down, we ordered and talked about anything and everything. Out food came a little bit later and we all ate. I was about half-way through my lunch when I felt my phone vibrating in my pocket. I pulled it out and I immediately lost my appetite when I saw the name that was flashing across the screen. Tanya.

I felt my temper rising as the phone continued to vibrate. "I need to take this," I said as I pushed my chair back and went outside to answer the call. I needed to stop this once and for all.

"What do you want, Tanya?" I sneered into the phone.

"Eddie, why haven't you been answering my calls. I've been calling you forever and you won't ever pick up. Why?" Tanya whined.

"You want to know why I haven't answered any of your calls, Tanya? I'll tell you why because the last time I saw you, you were pushed up against the wall of a club making out with my best friend. That's why. You cheated on me, Tanya, with my _best _friend. My best friend, Tanya. How long was that even going on?" I asked, my temper at an all time high.

"About six months," she answered. "But Eddie, I'm not seeing James anymore. He was just for fun, but I realized you were more fun now. So that means we can get back together again and---" I stopped listening for a moment. Six months. She had been cheating on me with my best friend for six freaking months and I had no idea at all.

I cut her off. "Tanya, I don't want to get back together. You apparently weren't satisfied with our relationship in the first place, so I don't really see a point in even trying again."

"But Eddie---" I cut her off again.

"I'm done talking to you, Tanya. I don't want to talk to you anymore. It's permanently over now. And for the last time, quit calling me 'Eddie!'" I snapped the phone shut and shoved it back into my pocket. I leaned against the wall and took a deep breath, trying to reign in my anger so that I wouldn't go off on any of my friends inside.

Once I was calm again, I walked back inside and sat back down. "Was it Tanya?" Alice asked quietly.

"Yes, she wanted to get back together," I said and I could have sworn that I saw Bella's face fall a bit. "But I told her that I didn't want to because for some reason I have a feeling that she'd only cheat on me again, but I don't know who with. I only have one best friend in Chicago," I added sarcastically.

Alice gasped. "She cheated on you with James?" I nodded. "Well, they better hope they don't come in contact with me anytime soon because if they do, I'll castrate them both and throw them off a cliff."

"Thanks, Alice," I said.

"That's what sisters are for," she said with a smile that made me feel a little better.

"Are you alright?" I heard Bella ask softly. She was rubbing my arm gently and it was making the tense muscles loosen with each movement. It felt extremely good and right.

"Yeah," I said, placing my hand on top of hers. "I'm good now." I smiled down at her and she smiled back. I was still angry with Tanya and James, but I didn't want to think about it right now.

We all finished eating and paid the check and then we left. I tried to keep my mood light so not to ruin everyone else's day and surprisingly it wasn't that hard to do. Everyone was light and cheery today and it was kind of contagious. I was smiling and laughing along with everyone else.

After we were done for the day in the city, we all started for home. Bella rode back with me again and we talked animatedly all the way back.

When we pulled up to my house, Bella was quietly looking down at her hands. "Is something wrong, Bella?" I asked.

"I just wanted to ask you something, but it's not important. It doesn't matter," she said, looking out the window of the car.

I reached over and turned her face towards me. "You can always ask me anything, no matter what it is."

She took a deep breath and nodded. "Um, do you remember when I was talking about the traditions that come along with the fair?" I nodded. "Well, one of the traditions is that everyone usually goes with someone else and I was wondering if you would like to go with me? I mean, you don't have to or anything, it's just a suggestion and I---" I placed a finger against her lips to stop her.

"I would love to go with you to the fair," I told her with a smile which she returned brightly. I got out of the car and went to open her door again.

As Bella was getting out of the car, Emmett pulled into the driveway and Alice hopped out of the Jeep. She waved to everyone and kissed Jasper goodbye and then skipped into the house.

"I guess I gotta go," she said.

I nodded. "I guess I have to go as well."

"I'll see you later," she said as she stood on her toes to press a light kiss on my cheek.

"Yeah," I said. "See you later." She smiled shyly and walked over to the Jeep and hopped in. Emmett waved as he backed out of the driveway and drove down the road.

I sighed and locked my car and walked into the house with way too many thoughts swirling around in my head.

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A/N: Ooo, Tanya got an earful, didn't she? LOL. Anyway, hope you liked it. And I'll try to update more often, but I've got a lot going on from now and the end of the summer, so I don't know how much writing time I'll have, but I'll try my hardest to update for you guys.

**Please review!**

**And I'm starting a new story (yeah, yeah, I know what you're thinking. **_**OMG! I can't believe she's starting a new story and she's already got so many in progress!**_** But I can't help this one. It's been stuck in my head for months now and I really would like to write it), but I'm not going to post it until it's completely done (I have a feeling that I'll be changing my mind on that front, but for now that's how it is). But the point of this rant is to ask to all of you if you would mind sending me suggestions of alternative/rock/punk bands and/or names of songs in the before mentioned genres. Thanks!**

**Peace Out, Girl Scouts!**

**Kitti :)**


	8. Ch 8 Want To

**A/N: Hey guys! Thanks for the reviews! They made me smile! :D And thanks to all of you who sent in names of bands/songs for my other story. Thanks! Anyway, I'll let you read now, so read!**

**Disclaimer: See Chapter 1.**

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Soundtrack:

_**Want To **_**by Sugarland**

**Chapter 8: Want To**

**(Edward's POV) **

"Edward, come on!" Alice called from the bottom of the stairs. "Everyone's here."

"I'm coming," I called back as I closed the door of my bedroom and headed down the stairs.

Tonight was the night of the fair and I had to admit that I was excited about it.

Alice and I walked out the door and I saw Bella already standing next to the Volvo. I chuckled. "I'm assuming we're going to have to split up again."

Bella smiled and nodded. "Yep, now let's go."

I smiled at Bella's excitement and unlocked the car and we both got in. "You know where you're going?" Bella asked.

"Yeah, I think I remember where it is," I answered.

She nodded and off we went. We drove to the fair in a comfortable silence and Bella started to bounce a bit in her seat as I pulled into the parking area. "Someone's excited," I said with a chuckle.

She smiled brightly. "Just a little bit."

I laughed and got out of the car and went to open Bella's door. "Thank you, kind sir," she said with a giggle.

I gave her my crooked smile and bowed my head. "Your very welcome, gentle lady."

She giggled again when I offered my arm. She took it and we walked towards the ticket booth. "Two tickets please," I told the woman at the booth.

I pulled out my wallet to pay for the tickets, but Bella put her hand on mine to stop me. "Edward, you don't have to pay for me. I can do it."

"Well, I want to, so I'm going to," I said as I handed the woman the money and she gave me the tickets. I handed Bella her ticket. "And don't say that I shouldn't have down that. I wanted to."

Bella huffed. "Fine," she pouted. I just laughed and took her hand in mine and pulled her towards the entrance. We gave the man standing there our tickets and as soon as we stepped into the fair, Bella's pout disappeared and a smile replaced it. "Come on, let's go."

Bella pulled to everything including all of the games that they had and all of the rides and I was actually enjoying myself. Bella was one of the most amazing people that I had ever met and I was ecstatic that I could actually spend time with her.

"Oh, look. It's the bottle knockdown game. I love that game even though I'm horrible at it," Bella said excitedly. I smiled down at her and we walked over to the booth.

I pulled out my wallet and handed the worker a dollar. "Three tries," the man said. I nodded and offered one of the balls to Bella, but she shook her head. "You do it."

"Alright," I said. I was about the throw the ball when I heard one of the voices that I never wanted to hear again and I froze.

"One game," he said. I looked over to see Jacob Black standing next to me with a ball in his hand. He sneered at me and threw the ball at the bottled and knocked all but one of the bottles over. "Beat that, loser."

I rolled my eyes and threw my ball at my set of bottles and knocked all over them over. The man that was working the booth said, "Take your pick," and gestured to all of the plush animals behind him.

"Bella?" I asked her.

She looked surprised, but picked one out just the same. "Um, the lion," she said and pointed at the large plush lion at the back of the booth. The man nodded and handed her the lion.

"Thank you, Edward," Bella said and gave me a kiss on the cheek.

"You're very welcome," I told her.

I think Bella was ignoring Jacob on purpose, but she said something when he cleared his throat. "Oh, Jacob. I didn't even see you there. We'd love to stay a chat, but we've got somewhere to be. Bye." And with that Bella grabbed my hand and pulled me away from the booth, leaving a very angry Jacob behind.

"God, he acts so much like a child sometimes," she muttered angrily.

"It's fine, Bella. No blood, no foul," I said, trying to calm her.

She sighed. "I know, but he drives me insane." She groaned and grabbed her head. I couldn't help but laugh at her expression. She started to giggle too after a second.

"On a different note, where in the world did you learn the throw like that?" Bella asked.

I shrugged. "I was pitcher on my high school baseball team. No big deal."

"No big deal, he says," she muttered. I just laughed again and we moved on to a different booth.

Eventually we ran into the group. Emmett was trying his hand at the strong man booth. "Go, Emmett!" Rose called. She giggled when he flexed his arm muscles and then slammed the mallet down in the target and unsurprisingly the sound of the bell getting hit rang out. I looked down to see Bella just shaking her head at her brother's antics.

"Hey, guys," Alice greeted us. "Have you been having fun?"

"Yeah," Bella said with a smile as she looked up at me. "But we had a little run in with Jacob, but it's no big deal. Edward showed him up with his manly throwing skills," she added with a giggle. I just gave Bella an indignant look that she laughed at.

Alice laughed. "Have you been showing off, Edward? Mother would not approve."

"Ha, ha, very funny," I mumbled.

After Emmett had collected his prize, he and Rose joined Jasper, Alice, Bella, and I and Bella decided that it would be funny to retell the Jacob story. They all laughed loudly and I blushed (which isn't something that I did much of).

"Aww, he's blushing," Bella said, giggling the whole time.

I rubbed the back of my neck in embarrassment and looked down, which only made everyone laugh some more.

"Alright, alright. Enough humor at my expense," I said, still indignant.

"I'm sorry, Edward," Bella said, covering her mouth so she wouldn't laugh anymore.

"It's fine," I said.

"Let's go get something to eat," Emmett suggested. Everyone agreed and we all headed in the direction of the food stands.

As everyone was eating, it was starting to get dark and lights were coming on all over the fairgrounds.

"Oh, look, Jazz," Alice exclaimed. "They have a dance floor. Let's go dance." Before Jasper could give an answer, Alice was pulling him to the dance floor. Emmett and Rose followed closely behind them.

I stood up from my seat and offered my hand to Bella. "May I have this dance?" I asked her.

She giggled. "Sure, but I'm warning you now, I'm not the best of dancers. If you leave with less than ten toes, it's not my fault."

I laughed as she took my hand and I helped her out of her seat and led her over to the dance floor. A fast paced song was playing and I tried (try being the key word here) to show Bella how to dance, but that didn't go so well. But the good thing was that she was laughing, so I assumed that she was having a good time.

A slower song started playing after a little while and I led Bella over to the side of the dance floor so we could have some privacy. Everyone else had disappeared from the dance floor and wandered off to do something else.

Bella was still giggling from our last dance. "I told you I wasn't any good."

I chuckled. "And I'll have to agree with you on that one."

She scoffed and slapped my chest lightly. "Whatever." I only laughed some more.

I started to move to the beat of the song and I pulled Bella closer to me. "I don't know how to do this either," she stated.

"Don't worry," I said with a smile. "It's all in the leading." She rolled her eyes, but started to sway to the beat with me.

The song continued to play and Bella laid her head against my chest, a small smile on her face, and I felt a sort of warmth start to spread through my entire body. That next happened with anyone else.

I lifted my hand off of the small of Bella's back and raised it to tilt her face up to mine. "Is something wrong?" she asked, sounding genuinely concerned.

"No, nothing at all," I said as I felt my gaze drop down to Bella's lips. And before I even knew what I was doing, I closed the small distance between our lips. Bella gasped against my lips and pulled back quickly.

"Edward, are you sure?" she asked quietly, looking up into my eyes.

I brought one of my hands up to her face and tucked a stray piece of hair that had fallen into her face behind her ear. "Positive," I said and closed the distance between our lips again, but this time Bella didn't pull away.

She wrapped her arms around my neck and pulled herself closer to me and I wrapped my arms around her waist. Her soft lips moved gently against mine with so much sweetness that I cold honestly feel myself melting.

We pulled apart and both of us were slightly breathless. "Wow," she sighed. "You don't know how long I've wanted to do that." She blushed deeply.

I smiled and brushed my thumbs over her cheeks softly. "I know the feeling."

She giggled and I smiled down at her. I gave her a chaste kiss on the lips and grabbed her hand in mine and pulled her off the dance floor.

I took Bella back to the parking lot (seeing as it was almost midnight) and over to the car. I opened her door and she slid in. I closed her door and went over to my side and climbed in.

"I'll take you home," I told her. She nodded and gave me the directions and I drove her back to her house. We had been driving for a few minutes, when we came up to a stop sign. I kept my eyes on the road as I reached over and grabbed her hand and entangled my fingers with hers. I brought her hand up to my mouth and kissed it gently and I saw a small smile creep onto Bella's face.

We drove in a comfortable silence to her house after that. I pulled up in front of her house. "I had a really good time tonight," I told her.

"Me too. That would have to be the best fair that I had ever been to," she stated.

"And why is that?" I asked with a smirk on my face.

She bit her lip and made a face that told me that she was pretending to think. "I think that it had something to do with the fact that a really great and not to mention extremely gorgeous guy decided to kiss me tonight," she said as she leaned forward, her lips stopping inches from mine.

"Extremely gorgeous, huh?" I asked, the smirk still on my face.

"Very much so," she said with a giggle before closed the gap between our lips. I raised my hand so that I could cup the back of her neck and press her lips closer to mine. Bella ran her hands through my already messy hair and her fingers left trails of fire wherever they touched.

"Hmm," I hummed in delight before I pulled away. "It's late." She sighed and nodded, sitting back in her seat.

"I guess I better go," she sighed.

She reached for the door handle, but before she could open the door I said, "Bella."

She turned around and I leaned over the console of the car and pressed a soft kiss against her lips. "Good night," I whispered.

"Good night," she whispered back, a small, dreamy smile on her face. With that she got out of the car and headed towards her house. She walked up the stairs of her porch and opened the door, but before she closed the door she waved and blew me a kiss. I waved back and then she shut the door and I drove back to my house, the smile on my face mirroring Bella's dreamy expression.

When I walked into the house, my mother was still sitting on the couch in the living room, reading a book. She looked up when I came in the room and smiled warmly at me. "Hello, dear. Did you have fun tonight?" she asked.

"Yes. Yes, I did," the smile on my face growing larger.

"That's good, dear. Have you packed yet?" she asked.

I looked up at her confused. "Where am I going?"

"Chicago," she said. "You said you were only staying for a couple of weeks."

"Um, there's been a slight change of plans. I think I'll being staying a little longer," I said. Bella's face appeared in my mind again which only made my smile return.

"Alright, sweetheart," Mom said. "It'll be nice to have you around a little longer."

"Mhmm," I answered. "I think so too."

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A/N: Yay! They kissed! Wasn't it sweet? Anyway, hope you liked it.

**And I'm still looking for alternative/rock/punk bands/songs, so send those in if you know of any. And I'm in need of some help thinking of a band name for the band in my story, so if any of you would mind helping me with that, it would be much appreciated. Thanks!**

**Please review! They make me happy!**

**Peace Out, Girl Scouts!**

**Kitti :)**


	9. Ch 9 No One Needs To Know

**A/N: Hey guys! I want to thank all of you guys for the reviews and for the suggestions that you all have sent in. They are all much appreciated. And I changed the chapter name and song for last chapter. I found a song that matched the chapter better. Anyway, I'm going to stop rambling and let ya'll read, so read!**

**Disclaimer: See Chapter 1.**

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Soundtrack:

_**No One Needs To Know **_**by Shania Twain**

**Chapter 9: No One Needs To Know**

**(Edward's POV) **

I felt something soft brush over my face multiple times the next morning, but me being the not-so morning person that I am, didn't open my eyes. Whatever was touching my face kept it up until I realized that they were lips. I felt a smile creep onto my face.

My eyes snapped open when I heard a giggle. "Good morning, sleepy head," Bella said with a giggle. Bella was sitting on the side of my bed, leaning over me. She leaned down to press a kiss to my cheek and brushed a wayward piece of hair off of my forehead.

"Well, it was good, but now it's better," I said with a smile.

Bella giggled. "Come on, you lazy bum. It's time to get up." She tried to get up but I grabbed her waist and pulled her down next to me. She squeaked when she fell and I had to try very hard to keep myself from laughing.

I tucked my nose into the crook of her neck and pulled her close. "I don't want to get up," I mumbled, running my nose along her neck. She squirmed and giggled.

"Edward," she whined, still giggling (I think she's ticklish). "We need to get up. There's something I need to talk to you about."

"Can't you talk from right here?" I asked as I pressed light kisses along her neck and cheeks.

"Edward, it's sort of serious," she said.

"Fine," I sighed. "But there's something I need to do first."

"And that would be?" she asked, sitting up as much as she possibly could at the moment.

I pulled her back down and pressed my lips to hers gently. "Alright, you may proceed," I said with a smile as I pulled away.

Bella smiled back and slipped out of my arms. "Get dressed," she said. "And then we'll talk." She paused for a second and sighed. "Even though I will miss that spectacular view." She ran her finger over my naked chest (I slept without a shirt) and I smirked. She slid off the bed and walked towards the door.

I threw the covers off and grabbed her around the waist before she could leave the room. "You can see this view anytime you want," I whispered into her ear.

She giggled. "I'm holding you to that," she whispered back.

My eyebrows shot up. "Someone's being naughty," I said with a smirk.

Bella just laughed. "I'll be waiting right here. Call me when you're done."

She closed the door behind her and I went to get dressed and attempt to flatten my hair. After I gave up on my hair, I called Bella back in. She came in and sat on my bed. I sat next to her and waited for her to start talking.

"Well," she started, looking down at her hands that were in her lap. "I love the fact that I can kiss you whenever I want now." She looked up through her lashes and I gave her a smile. "But there's one little complication with that."

"And that would be?" I asked, slightly nervous.

"My father," she said, looking directly at me.

"What about him?" I asked warily.

"He doesn't like the thought of me going out with anyone besides Jacob." I stiffened at the sound of his name. "He's deluded himself into thinking that Jacob and I are the perfect couple and he's scared off any others who've tried to date me."

"And how exactly are we planning to get past this?" I asked.

"Well, I was thinking that maybe we could keep our relationship a secret. Just for a little while though. Just so my dad can get to know you and all. And I don't think anyone saw us last night, 'cause my dad would have said something to me by now if someone had told him," she explained quickly. "Oh, if you're not comfortable with the whole relationship thing yet, that's okay. I---" I cut off her rambling.

"If you want a relationship, then I want one," I told her, kissing her cheek softly. "And I think we could keep this a secret for a little while," I told her. She smiled and stood up.

"Good," she said with a smile. "'Cause I would like to keep you around." I chuckled and she leaned down and kissed me.

I stood up and took her hand in mine and gave it a kiss. "Come on," I said. "Let's go get some breakfast."

I dropped her hand and she nodded and we walked down the stairs together. "Good morning, dear," my mom said when we walked in. She turned to Bella said, "I hope he wasn't too hard to wake up. He's always been a difficult one in the morning. He's like his father in that aspect." I gave my mom an indignant look which only made her laugh.

Bella laughed. "Oh, it wasn't too hard. It took some coaxing, but he finally came around." Bella threw a glance at me with a smirk on her face. I winked at her and made my into the dining room where I found Emmett, Rose, Jasper, and Alice already sitting down.

"Hey, guys," I greeted. A chorus of "hey" came at me and I sat down next to Bella who had slipped in behind me.

Mom brought in a huge platter of pancakes which Emmett attacked, but thankfully saved some for the rest of us. The conversation flowed while we were eating.

While everyone was caught up in the conversation, I slipped my hand underneath the table and grabbed Bella's hand in mine. She jumped slightly, but then relaxed and squeezed my hand a bit. I squeezed hers back and brought her hand over to my knee and flipped hers over and started to tickle the palm of her hand. Out of the corner of my eye, I noticed that Bella was trying to hold in her laughter. Occasionally, a small giggle would slip out, but nobody would notice.

After breakfast, everyone cleared out of the dining room and went to do their separate things.

"Do you think you could come over to my house?" Bella whispered when no one was looking at us. "We could have a little privacy." She threw me a wink and I raised an eyebrow at her.

"Someone's being very naughty today," I whispered into her ear. She only laughed softly and shrugged. "And to answer your question, yes, I can. Is now a good time?"

"Yep," she said. "Both of my parents are at work at the moment and I've got today off at the diner."

"Well, then lead the way," I said, motioning towards the door.

It took about twenty minutes to get to Bella's house. We walked up the stairs of her porch and Bella unlocked the house and we both went in.

Bella's house wasn't as large as my parents' house, but I liked it just the same. It was clean and bright and it seemed to fit Bella and her family.

"There's someone I want you to meet," Bella said after she closed the door and threw her keys into a basket near the door.

"Alright," I said.

"Tom," Bella called. Tom? Who's Tom?

And that's when I heard a quiet jingle coming from down the hall. I looked down and saw an orange ball of fluff fly towards Bella. Bella smiled down at the ball of fluff and bent down to pick it up. "This is Thomas O'Malley," she said with a giggle. "But I call him Tom or Boo-Boo, but that's irrelevant."

When I finally got a look at the ball of fur, I realized that it was a kitten **(pic on website)**. "He's cute," I said with a smile. Tom started to meow softly and started reaching out towards me. Bella held him up to me and I hesitantly took the ball of fluff out of Bella's hands. Thankfully he didn't attack me.

"Aww, he likes you," Bella cooed. "Normally he would be trying to claw someone's eyes out. He doesn't like people too much."

"Well, it's nice to know that I've been accepted by the cat," I said. Bella laughed and rubbed behind Tom's ears which only made him purr louder than he was before.

"You can put him down," she told me. "He's very clingy once he likes you, so I have a feeling that we won't have much alone time without him trying to intervene." She laughed when I set him down and he raced towards her and tried to cling to her jeans.

Bella reached for my hand and pulled me down the hall. "Would you like a tour?"

"I would love one," I answered.

She smiled and showed me around her house. "You just walked past the living room and the kitchen. My parents' room is down the hall, but I'm not going to venture into that territory." I smiled at Bella's silliness and followed her up the stairs.

"Emmett's old room is down the hall. The bathroom is on the right. And this is my room," she said hesitantly, pushing open the white room that hid her room from my eyes.

The room was definitely Bella-like. It was painted a light blue with darker blue accents all around the room. There was a large bed in one corner with a nightstand sitting next to it that was covered in books and papers. A small desk sat in another corner and it too was covered in papers and books. A stack of CDs was standing on one corner of the desk. A large bookshelf stood in on of the other corners and was filled to its limits with books. "I like it," I told her. "It's very you."

Bella blushed a bit. "Thanks, I think," she said. I chuckled and walked over to where Bella was standing.

I brushed the tips of my fingers over her still-blushing cheek. "I love it when you blush," I murmured to her, which only made her blush darken.

"And now I know that every time you make me blush it will be for your personal gain," she said, shaking her head at me. She sounded serious but you could hear the playful undertones in her voice.

I laughed softly. "Well, damn, you caught me."

She shook her head again, only this time she was laughing. "Come here," she said through her giggles as she pulled my head down so that she could crash her lips into mine. I chuckled into the kiss and moved my arms so that I could pick Bella up bridal style. She squeaked when I did, which only made me laugh again, and carried her over to the bed. I laid back against the pillows on her bed and sat Bella on my lap. She brought her hands up and ran them through my hair and it felt amazing. My hands left Bella's waist and traveled up to her hair as well and they braided themselves into the soft locks.

I was about to deepen the kiss when someone called from the bottom of the stairs, "Bella? Are you home? Whose car is that in the driveway?" Bella and I both froze.

"Crap," Bella whispered frantically. "My mom's home." She crawled off my lap and straightened her hair and clothes. "Yeah, Mom, I'm home. I have a friend over," Bella called back to her mom.

"Well, bring your friend down here, so I can meet them," her mom called back.

Bella glanced at me and I nodded. "Alright," Bella called back. I followed Bella down the stairs and into the kitchen where a woman who was about the same height and had the same hair color as Bella was standing. The woman turned around and smiled at me. "Well, who's this handsome young man?"

"I'm Edward Cullen," I said with a smile. "It's lovely to finally meet you, Mrs. Swan."

"Are you Carlisle and Esme's son?" I nodded. "Oh, I've heard quite a lot of charming things about you."

"Oh, yes. He's quite charming," Bella interjected with a smirk.

"You should stay for dinner," Mrs. Swan said. "We've got plenty of food. I had to make extra because Emmett and Rose were supposed to come over tonight."

"I don't want to impose," I said.

"Oh, you wouldn't be. The more the merrier," she said enthusiastically.

I looked over at Bella and she nodded quickly. "Alright then," I agreed.

Bella's mom smiled and then told us that we could leave because she had to finish everything for dinner.

"She liked you," Bella said quietly as we sat on the couch in the living room.

"Well, that's good. At least I know one of your parents likes me," I said, relieved.

Bella laughed and then started laughing harder when Tom decided to make an entrance and jump into my lap, which made me jump in surprise.

A few minutes later, three new voices came floating down the hallway, followed by the sound of a door closing. I looked up the see Emmett, Rose, and who I could only assume was Bella and Emmett's father.

"Edward, what're you doing here, man?" Emmett asked.

"Bella wanted me to meet her cat," I said, gesturing towards the kitten in my lap. "Apparently, he likes me and your mom invited me to dinner."

"You mean the demon?" Emmett said, glaring at the small cat who seemed to be giving Emmett the same look. "That thing hates me." And to prove Emmett's point, Tom hissed in his direction. "See what I mean?" I only laughed.

"Hi, Daddy," Bella said to the man that came in with Rose and Emmett.

"Hello, Bells," the man greeted back. His glance flickered over to me. "Who's your friend, Bells?"

I moved Tom off my lap and stood up to shake his hand. "I'm Edward Cullen, sir."

He eyed my hand for a moment, but shook it nonetheless. "You're Carlisle and Esme's boy?"

"Yes, sir," I answered. He nodded and walked into the kitchen to greet his wife.

"You'll have to excuse him," Bella said as I sat back down. "He's not exactly the most open-minded person on the planet."

"It's alright," I said.

"Dinner's ready, everyone," Mrs. Swan called from the dining room. Everyone got up and headed towards the dinging room. I pulled Bella's chair out for her and she smiled up at me and sat down. I looked up to see Mr. Swan looking at me suspiciously.

"Edward, sit here," Bella said, patting the chair next to her. I smiled down at her and sat down. I looked up to find that Bella had a confused look on her face. "Who else is coming?" she asked, gesturing to the two empty places at the table.

"Oh, I invited Billy and Jacob," Mr. Swan said. Bella and I stiffened next to each other. "Is that a problem?"

"No, not at all," Bella said through gritted teeth. "Not at all."

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A/N: Ooo, cliffy! Mwuhahahaha!!! -clears throat- Anyways, hope you guys liked that. The rest of the dinner with Jacob is coming up next chapter and there's gonna be a lot more drama coming up. Lots and lots and lots of drama. Fun, fun, fun. Anyway, please review! They make me happy! :D

**Anyway, I still need band name suggestions for the band in my other story, so if you guys wouldn't mind sending in suggestions, I would really appreciate it. Thanks!**

**Peace Out, Girl Scouts!**

**Kitti :) **


	10. Ch 10 Flat On The Floor

**A/N: First off, let me apologize for leaving ya'll hanging for over six months. I feel horrible about it, but I just haven't had time to write. I've had so much homework lately (I'm warning you now, don't take three AP classes. Just don't do it.) and volleyball has been crazy. Now club volleyball season has started and senior year registration has been pure insanity, but now that everything is started to settle in and slow down a bit I'll be able to write more. I'll let ya'll read, so here's chapter ten. (Whoo! Double digits!) **

**Disclaimer: See Chapter 1. **

**Soundtrack: **_**Flat On The Floor **_**by Carrie Underwood**

**Chapter 10: Flat On The Floor**

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Previously on Small Town Southern Living:

_"Who else is coming?" she asked, gesturing to the two empty places at the table._

_"Oh, I invited Billy and Jacob," Mr. Swan said. Bella and I stiffened next to each other. "Is that a problem?"_

_"No, not at all," Bella said through gritted teeth. "Not at all."_

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(Edward's POV)

Just as she said that, the doorbell rang. Mr. Swan got up and went to answer the door. Once he was out of the room, Bella turned to me and said quietly, "I'm so sorry. I didn't know that he was coming."

"Bella, it's fine. We'll handle it," I assured her even though I wasn't sure if I could hold myself back from trying to smash the moron's face in if he started to provoke Bella.

Bella still seemed wary, but she relaxed when I took her hand under the table and started to rub small circles into the back of it gently.

About a minute later, Mr. Swan came back into the room pushing a man in a wheelchair with Jacob following them. Jacob sent a smile over to Bella, who only glared back at him. I gave her hand a gentle squeeze, letting her know that everything would be fine. And then Jacob saw that I was sitting next to her. His face instantly changed from smug to downright livid and I could only smirk. I'm sure he was going to try to use tonight to "fix" things with Bella. Well, my Bella wouldn't have any of that.

_My Bella. _I like the sound of that.

"Hello, Billy," Bella said, a slight smile on her face. "It's good to see you again.""Good to see you, too, Bella," the older man said, an actual smile on his face. "And who is this young man?" Billy asked, looking over at me.

"Oh, this is a friend of mine, Edward Cullen. He's Mr. and Mrs. Cullen's son. He's visiting from up north," Bella said, introducing me. I stood up from my seat and went over to shake the man's hand and he shook mine without a bit of spite.

"It's nice to meet you, sir," I said.

"You as well, son," Billy said. "And this is my son, Jacob."

"We've met," Jacob said, crossing his arms over his chest. I had to resist the urge to roll my eyes at him.

"Oh, really? Where?" Billy asked, looking between the two of us.

"At the fair," I told him, keeping a smile (albeit a fake one) on my face. "We met at the baseball toss."

"Interesting," Billy said and dropped the subject. I glanced over at Bella and she had a tense smile on her face as she walked back over to her seat and sat down. I followed her and sat back down in my seat as Mrs. Swan brought out the food. She called for Emmett and Rose to come into the dining room as she greeted Billy and Jacob with a friendly smile.

Emmett and Rose came into the room and went to sit down on the other side of Bella and me, but Jacob sat down next to her first. Bella stiffened and discreetly moved her chair closer to me. Emmett and Rose shot a glare in Jacob's direction and went to sit down on the other side of the table. None of the adults seemed to notice the tension that was radiating from between everyone else at the table.

It was quiet for a little while before Mrs. Swan turned to me and asked, "So, Edward, how're you liking our little town? It must be quite a bit different from up north."

I looked up from my plate and said, "Yes, ma'am, it's actually very different, but in a good way. I've never been below the Mason-Dixon Line before, but you guys have given me a very good first impression." I flashed my most charming smile at her.

Mrs. Swan smiled at me. "Well, I'm glad that you like it down here. It's nice to have visitors once in a while. Isn't that right, Charlie?" She looked over at her husband and he grunted in a indifferent sort of way.

_Alright…_ I felt a small foot rub against my leg under the table and I relaxed a bit and a small smile appeared on my face. I rubbed my foot against Bella's and she coughed to cover up a giggle when I tickled her foot.

The rest of dinner was a silent affair except for the occasional question directed towards me or one of Bella's muffled giggles. Bella would occasionally rub her foot against my leg and I would return the favor. Bella completely ignored Jacob for the entirety of dinner, but I couldn't help but notice how Jacob was eyeing Bella the entire time. I had to keep myself from glaring at him throughout dinner.

After dinner was over, I offered to clear the table for Mrs. Swan and she accepted with a smile on her face. Emmett and I cleared off the table quickly as everyone else moved into the other room.

When Emmett and I were in the kitchen alone I took the opportunity to ask him about Jacob. "Is Jacob always so intense?" I asked Emmett, trying to keep the question as innocent as possible.

Emmett shook his head. "He used to be an okay guy until Bella broke up with him and then he just wouldn't leave her alone. He hasn't done anything to hurt her but he's starting to wear on her last nerve."

I nodded, but kept my mouth shut and continued to bring the dishes into the kitchen.

**(Bella's POV)**

After Edward offered to help clear the table, he and Emmett started to clean up and everyone else moved into the living room. My dad and mom wanted to go out onto the porch so Rose and Billy accompanied them and I was left in the living room alone with Jacob. I could have gone outside with my parents but Jacob was standing in front of the door, blocking my path.

"Can you please move?" I asked him as politely as I possibly could.

"Bella, baby, we need to talk," he said to me, more like demanded.

"We don't need to talk about anything, Jacob. The chance for talking passed quite a while ago, so if you'll excuse me, I would like to speak with my parents," I said to him. I tried to sidestep him but before I could reach for the door knob, he grabbed my arm and pulled me back. I gasped in shock. He had never actually been rough with me in any sort of way.

"Let go, Jacob," I said as forcefully and as quietly as I could. I didn't want Edward or Emmett coming in here to make a scene.

"No, not until you talk to me," he said, his teeth grinding together.

"No, Jacob," I told him, glaring up at him. "I'm done talking to you. I've been done talking to you for two years. Now. Let. Me. Go," I forced out as I tried to pull my arm out of his grip, but to no avail.

"Baby," Jacob said. "Just say you'll go out with me again. You know you want to. I can see it in your eyes."

Now I was just furious. "I will never in a million years go out with a dog like you ever again in my life and if I do, then I'll just go ahead and fall in a hole and stay there for being so stupid."

"Now, baby, you know---" He never got to finish his sentence because I rammed my knee up into the one place that guys don't want to be hit and he let go of my arm and he fell to the floor, moaning in pain.

"Leave me alone or I'll do it again or send one of the boys after you to kick your ass," I threatened. "And quit calling me 'baby'." And then I stormed out of the room, leaving Jacob curled up on the floor in pain.

I walked into the kitchen to only find Edward in the kitchen and I was extremely thankful for that. Edward must have heard me come in because he turned around and smiled at me. But his smile turned into a frown when he saw my face. "What happened, love?" he asked me quietly.

I just shook my head and walked up to him and wrapped my arms around his waist and buried my face into his chest. He wrapped his arms around me and pulled me close and placed a kiss on the top of my head. "Can we go somewhere?" I asked him, pulling my face from his chest.

He nodded. "Anywhere you want," he said. I nodded and pulled out of his embrace reluctantly and walked towards the living room to find that Jacob has moved himself off the floor and out onto the porch with everyone else. Edward followed close behind me.

"Hey," I said, getting my parents' attention. "I'm gonna show Edward around for a little while. We won't be out long." My parents nodded and my mom said goodbye to Edward while my dad grunted. Jacob just glared at me and Edward but didn't comment.

Edward followed me off the porch and over to his Volvo. He opened my door for me and then went over to his side of the car and got in. "Where do you want to go?" he asked.

"I don't care. Just away from here," I said quietly. He nodded and started driving. I didn't pay any attention to where he was going and I didn't look up until he pulled to a stop. We were in front of his house and I was a bit confused, but I didn't argue. He came to open my door and he took my hand and pulled me out of the car and started walking around the house and towards the large open fields that spread out for miles behind the house.

We walked in silence for a little while until we were a good distance from the house, the only light coming from the moon that had risen during our drive. Edward sat down in the middle of the field and then took my hand and pulled me down into his lap. He wrapped his arms around me and cradled me in his embrace, my head tucked under his chin. We were silent for the longest time before I heard myself say in a weak whisper, "He tried to talk to me again."

Edward stiffened underneath me, but didn't say anything. "I told him that I didn't want to talk to him and when I tried to get away he grabbed my arm and wouldn't let go. He kept trying to convince me to go out with him again, but I didn't listen to him." I stopped there and I felt Edward relax slightly.

"Did he hurt you?" he asked quietly, stiffly, like he was trying to keep himself from leaping up and killing Jacob right then.

"Not really," I said. Edward lifted his head from on top of mine and started looking my arms over. He stiffened considerably when he found the place on my arm that Jacob had grabbed. I looked down at the spot that he was looking at and a small gasp slipped through my lips. A hand-shaped bruise was spreading on my arm where Jacob had grabbed me.

I looked up into Edward's eyes and saw fury blazing in the dark emerald irises. "Please don't do anything drastic, Edward," I begged him. "He's not worth it."

"But you are, Bella," Edward said, his voice serious. "He doesn't deserve any sort of respect after what he's done to you."

"I know, but please don't do anything that might get you in trouble. Please, Edward," I begged him again.

He was quiet for a minute before he nodded. "But you have to tell me if anything like this ever happens again, understand? Even if he just tries to talk to you again. I want you to get away from him as fast as possible and tell me, alright?"

I nodded and buried my face into his neck, inhaling his unique scent to help calm me. Edward wrapped his arms around me again and held me tight against his body. He pressed a soft kiss to the top of my head and buried his face into my hair.

I let out a sigh and cuddled closer to Edward and felt, for the first time in two years, safe in someone's arms.

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A/N: Alright, guys, there's chapter 10 and I want to apologize again for the awful wait that I put ya'll through. Life has just been crazy. Anyway, I really hope that I'll be able to update more often now that I've got almost everything settled.

**Alrighty, ya'll, until next time.**

**Peace out, girl scouts!**

**Kitti :)**


	11. AN: New Profile and Story

Hey, everyone. I know you all must hate me because I haven't updated any of my stories in forever. I've just lost most of my inspiration for them. I'll get back to them eventually, but until then, they are all on hold.

But I do want to let you all know, that I have a new profile. My knew name is **PlayingKitti2011**. Don't worry. I'm still keeping this profile. And I've started a new story that I'm currently in love with. It's called _Let the Games Begin_. I love where it's going and I'm already about six chapter into it, so if you all want to head over to there, then I would love you all.

Thanks,

Kitti :)


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